A Lifetime Of Love
by tiramisuspice
Summary: "When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure."
1. Prologue

**So this is happening. I don't even care that I have seven unfinished stories out at once. One thing I love about Lucaya is the fact that there are so many angles with which you can play off of their personalities and histories. So many ways you can write them and their dynamic, and it all works so well.  
**

 **This is a Lucaya AU based on A Walk To Remember. This story has been adapted to fit the universe and characters of GMW.**

 **Rated High T for Triflin' Mofos.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.**

* * *

 _To live in hearts we leave behind  
Is not to die.  
~Thomas Campbell, "Hallowed Ground"_

It was almost seven.

The city was bustling with activity from people waving to catch taxis, running to subway stations, or getting quick bites to eat and cups of coffee to wake themselves up from the lethargy of the typical gray morning skies.

Lucas had almost forgotten how active and _alive_ New York City always was.

Even when your own time seemed to stand still, the city was always moving, always continuing on.

He smiled slightly.

She had said something like that to him once upon a time.

The forgotten familiarity of the roads started to become familiar once again, and Lucas cut off the GPS on his phone, realizing he never really needed it to come back _here_. Lucas turned on the familiar street, his trepidation rising with each second he drove closer and closer to his destination.

After arriving and parking, Lucas cut off his car, leaning back into his seat and silently watching the still passing traffic to his left. In his peripheral, light from the sun reflected off of the wedding band on his finger, hitting a spot on the roof in the interior of his car. He breathed out slowly through his lips, taking deep breaths and trying to calm himself down. He could do this. All he had to do was get out and walk inside. With a final encouraging deep breath, he pulled out the key and grabbed his bag and the flowers on the passenger seat.

Roses.

She'd always claimed she hated it when he gave them to her.

So he brought them anyway.

Lucas got out of his car and crossed the street into the run-down, burgundy apartment complex. He jogged up the stairs to the third floor and walked down the hall to his destination. He'd been there several times and could get to it in his sleep if he had to. He reached the door of the apartment and knocked a couple times with his knuckles. Some of the paint flaked off from the action, and he vaguely wondered if it hadn't been painted since he left New York.

The door opened, and Gammy Hart stared up at him, blinking in surprise behind her wide rimmed, round glasses.

"Lucas! You're the first one here. I just finished the tea."

"Hey, Gammy Hart." He said a little tensely, scratching the back of his head.

"Well come in, come in!" she stepped aside, allowing him room to enter. "The others should be coming over soon."

He walked slowly in, taking in the living room. It was exactly as he remembered it. The perpetual aroma of a vanilla scented candle lingering in the air. The rattling of the air conditioning on the fritz. The old, tacky cuckoo clock hanging on the wall. The easel near the window. The frayed quilt draped over the sofa. The torn, aged chairs and splintered wooden furniture. Even the small dent in the hardwood floor near the bookshelf was still there. It was like nothing had changed in the five years of his absence.

Well... one thing _had_ changed.

She wasn't sitting on her faded blue stool in the corner near the window, sketching images of the street below.

"It's been a long time since I've last seen you, Lucas." Gammy said, slowly carrying over the tray of tea, milk, and sugar to the coffee table. "Five years, I believe."

"Let me help you with that." He hastily set the roses down on the kitchen counter and carefully took the tray from Gammy's hands. He walked around the couch and put it down on the coffee table. "It has been a while."

"Thank you, Lucas." She said gratefully, plopping down tiredly on her favourite puke green rocking chair. It creaked loudly from the weight, and she let out a sigh when she could finally relax her legs. Lucas settled onto the sofa, shoulders and body stiff.

They fell into a restless silence for a spell, both putting sugar and milk in their respective teas before picking them up and taking small sips.

 _Jasmine._

It had always been her favourite. She liked to say it tasted like life.

"I see you brought her roses." Gammy finally said, chuckling good-naturedly. "She always told you she really hated that."

He could feel the tips of his ears warming, "It felt appropriate to bring."

She nodded. "I know she would love the gesture. She liked to pretend it was an annoyance to her. But, you know, on late evenings, I would always catch her staring wistfully at them and tracing the petals."

"I never would have expected that. The last time I brought her roses, she threatened me with bodily harm."

"Yes, that _was_ her nature." Gammy let out a peel of laughter, a thin, wispy sound that only made her age more apparent to Lucas, "Whenever she got embarrassed, she always did turn defensive. But she loved them. And she loved you."

"I know..." Lucas said softly, gazing fondly at the ring on his finger.

"I'm glad you came back."

"I had a promise to keep, didn't I?" he looked around, "How is Katy, by the way? I don't see her."

Gammy Hart set her tea cup down on her lap momentarily, eyes downcast, "I wouldn't know… she moved away a couple years ago."

Lucas' eyes widened. "I'm sorry. I didn't know…"

"It's alright, Lucas. She didn't want me to tell anyone and worry them."

"Do you know where she is?"

"She was somewhere in Chicago in January. But last I heard, she was on her way to California." Gammy's smile turned a little melancholic, "She hasn't been communicating too much these years. Kind of living life like it's empty. She's been that way for almost as long as you've been gone."

"I don't blame her…" Lucas said quietly.

Everyone had been hit hard, but he couldn't even begin to imagine how rough it was for Katy. He knew that to a pretty extreme extent, Katy blamed herself despite everyone assuring her that no one was at fault.

"So." Gammy said, sensibly changing the subject. "Vet school, huh? Which school are you attending in the fall?"

"Cornell. I decided to stay in New York. And it's only a four hour drive away from here." He'd spent his undergrad years in Texas, but he missed being in New York. He missed walking down the street and being reminded of her by every single thing. He missed the essence of her that the city seemed to exude.

"Was your undergrad curriculum difficult?"

"It was a lot harder than I expected." He said, taking a small sip, "But I managed."

She smiled, leaning back into her wicker chair. "Well congratulations, Lucas. You deserve it."

He nodded, gaze drifting to the open window. It was funny how the day was so cheerful when Lucas' thoughts and mood were anything but. The summer sun was shining brightly and completely unobstructed. There wasn't a single cloud concealing any of the early morning sky.

It reminded him of her.

Her glittering stormy blue-gray eyes and sun-kissed blonde locks.

"She would be proud of you, you know." Gammy said softly, calling his attention back to her.

Lucas met the old woman's kind eyes, and saw the same heartache that he knew he was sporting reflected in them.

"Thank you. That means a lot, ma'am."

"You're so charming." She chortled, "You really have come a long way. It's such a far cry from the you of the past that I almost can't believe it."

He would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised himself. His past wasn't exactly something he was proud of, but knowing that he had made that change and become a better person for both him and _her_ was all that mattered to him. And he really hoped, somewhere up there, she could see that he'd kept his promise and would continue to keep it to honour her memory.

"Yeah… I have." Lucas chuckled softly. "I never would have guessed I would turn out like this."

 _But Maya knew from the start. She always knew who I really was…_


	2. Chapter 1

**Haha I have a lecture in four minutes, and I tried to write this as quickly as I could. I hope it is coherent.  
**

 **Thank you for the preliminary reactions and reviews to the story! I hope it will be enjoyable in the future :)  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.**

* * *

 _Five years ago. . ._

Lucas had always liked the stars. The gentle and quiet peace they had to them. They were perfect for escaping from the world when reality no longer interested him. They provided relief. A kind of healing for the weary, in a way. When he was younger, he used to spend countless hours watching the stars from his bedroom window and hoping that his parents would stop arguing long enough for him to go to sleep.

They never stopped.

But at least the stars never let him down.

They were always there.

Lucas sat perched on the top of the gates of John Adams high school, staring at the sky, nonchalantly sipping his beer as the wind knocked against his side, threatening to tip him over if he weren't gripping the top rail so tightly. It wasn't particularly hot or humid that night, since summer had ended a while ago, but the air was still dry and stale, and he could feel every sharp burst of wind on his neck and face.

There was something ominous in the air that night. Something restless and uncontrollable buzzing in the air, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

And he loved it.

He loved the adrenaline pulsing through his veins and that feeling of the start of a thrill slowly crawling up his back. This feeling? The one of being on the edge, right at the cusp of danger or running from the law was what he lived for.

"Lucas, c'mon man. Are you seriously star-gazing again?" Zay called out from further in the parking lot, waving his bottle in the air, "Hurry your ass up."

Lucas hopped down from the top of the fence and almost fell on his ass, laughing as he stumbled and tried to regain his balance. He ambled over to Billy, standing a little bit away holding their black bag under his arms.

"You brought the stuff?" Lucas asked, dropping his empty bottle on ground and kicking it away with a clatter. It rolled innocuously across the ground before it got caught on a crack in the asphalt and came to an abrupt stop.

"Yeah." Billy smirked, throwing his own can haphazardly behind his back.

They walked to where Zay waited, a similar mischievous grin on his face.

"Where's Brandon?"

Zay gestured his thumb behind him, "Taking a piss behind that tree."

Billy's face curled in disgust at the mention, "Dude, you're always taking a piss."

Brandon walked out from the place, zipping up his pants with a crooked, drunken smirk. "Hey. When a man's gotta whizz, a man's gotta whizz."

"Whatever, man." Lucas said, taking the bag from Billy, "Let's just do this shit."

They took out the cans of spray paint and shook them up, snickering under their breaths as they approached the south brick wall of their gym building. Billy laughed as he started painting a giant penis on the side of the building.

"Real mature…" Zay drawled, right before he started drawing boobs.

They all took their own sections, sniggering and snorting at what they were leaving on the wall.

Four cans of spray paint and a handful of beers later, the wall was perfectly decorated with obscene images and lewd phrases and words. It was a masterpiece. The school admins would be in for a nasty surprise come Monday morning. Lucas smirked, thinking about how great it would be to see old Hearst's reaction to their little gift.

Billy leaned his arm on Lucas' shoulder, shaking his head, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Lucas said, watching as Brandon put the finishing touches on a leaf of cannabis.

"Hey, where are we gonna stash these empty cans?" he asked over his shoulder, shaking the bottle to try to get any last dregs of paint out.

"The drama club keeps their shit in the shed behind the gym. Let's put them in there." Zay replied, dropping his beer can on the ground and his empty paint can in the black bookbag.

They followed him to the back, keeping a careful eye out for any officers doing night patrole. They rounded the corner and came to the shed. In front of the shed were shoddily built sets for the play, paint still drying. Aside from the pretty well painted scenery on each piece, it looked like some cheap crap that some child had made.

Zay took one look at the set pieces and started busting out laughing, slapping his thigh and guffawing.

"Holy shit, are those the sets for the play?"

"These look fucking awful…" Brandon snorted, "Looks like some crap a little kid would do."

And then he picked one of them up and smashed it on the ground, breaking it into two. Billy laughed and joined in, stomping on it and breaking it into more pieces. The wind blew harshly, rustling their clothes and hair.

"Yo, Zay." Brandon said, "You got your lighter? We need to light this crap up."

"Hey, you sure that's a good idea…" Lucas frowned, not entirely comfortable with that. "We'll bring too much attention to ourselves."

A gust of wind blew through the air and rolled an empty can of theirs along the parking lot, the scraping sound being heard through the air.

"It'll just be a little one. Chill."

"Yeah," Billy agreed, laughing. "And we're doing the drama club a favour. Because damn these sets look bad."

Lucas shrugged. "Alright, but if you get burned, I'm gonna sit here and laugh at you."

Zay crouched next to the set piece with a goofy smile on his face and sparked the flame on the corner of it. It licked and lapped at the wood slowly, eating the edge and turning it brown as the fire slowly spread. Zay stood up and went back to his place next to the other boys, watching the fire slowly grow.

"Well this is kind of a buzz kill…" Brandon drawled. "Anyone got some gasoline? Speed this process up."

"You smokin' something?" Billy gave him a look, "We'd blow the whole thing up and cause a real mess."

"Man, you and Lucas are a pair of pussies…" he clicked his tongue in disgust, "A little bit of gasoline's not gonna do anything. I mean look how slowly this fire is going."

And then a burst of wind blew once again, harsh and sharp and right over the fire they had made.

The fire was tugged forward almost immediately, growing larger as it suddenly engulfed more of the set piece. Some of the fire jumped up and Lucas' brows rose in alarm and even Zay took a little step back in surprise.

"Hey… you gotta stomp this out, Brandon." Billy said. "Shit's gonna get too big."

"Nah. It'll go away once it hits the paint."

But it didn't.

In fact, it was the exact opposite. As soon as a lick of flame hit the paint, the fire jumped, skipping higher and spreading unbelievably fast. So fast, that one of the sparks hit another nearby set piece that had been untouched. Another fully painted set piece. And to make matters even worse, the wind started blowing once again, shifting direction and spreading the fire over to other set pieces. In a matter of seconds, the fire had started to spring out of control.

Lucas' eyes widened, and he turned to Brandon, "Hey. You need to go find some water! We need to put this out right now!"

But Brandon was staring at it wide eyed, his expression completely lost and a little apprehensive. The fire had grown to enormous proportions and had now engulfed the entire cluster of twenty something set pieces. Smoke languidly trailed up into the night air as the wood violently cracked and popped. Anyone walking by the school would be able to see the light from the fire pretty easily.

"Brandon!" Billy called out. "Hey it's getting out of control! We need to put this shit out."

"Fuck that!" Brandon said, "I'm not staying for this shit!"

Lucas grabbed the front of his collar before he could run and yanked him forward, pulling him face to face and glaring down at him.

"You started this fucking fire! Figure out a way to fix this!"

A gust of wind blew again, and the fire spread to some grass in the nearby area.

"Like hell _we_ need to do anything about this!" Zay shouted, as he turned and ran, "You guys are on your own!"

"Zay, what the fuck!" Lucas shouted.

His momentary distraction was enough for Brandon to pull himself out of Lucas' grasp and he stumbled away as well, running towards the gate where they'd parked his car. Billy stared at the giant fire for a few seconds before shaking his head and turning.

"Lucas, we should get the hell out of here."

"If we leave this fire, it'll just keep getting larger! We have to clean this mess up!"

Billy shook his head, "Naw man. I don't think there's anything we can do about it anymore."

"Billy c'mon!"

Billy raised his hands in apology before turning and running towards the fence with the others. Lucas let out a growl under his breath and gripped his hair, trying to think of how to tamper down the flames before they got any bigger than they already were. But it was starting to look like nothing short of a rain storm could cut this fire off.

" _Hey_!"

And then Lucas saw one of the night patrole officers running towards him, flashlight in hand, and blowing the crap out of his whistle.

"You, don't move!" the officer shouted.

"Shit!" Lucas hissed, turning around and running towards the direction of the fence.

But as he rounded the corner of the gym, another officer came out of nowhere, and Lucas was forced to come to an abrupt stop when he almost ran into him. He turned around again, but the other officer was almost directly behind him, and Lucas realized his escape had been effectively cut off. He was trapped.

The officer blew his whistle once again, "Put your hands behind your head and get down on your knees!"

Lucas did as he was told, slowly putting his hands behind his head as he dropped to his knees. One of the cops yanked the black bag out of Lucas' grasp, opening it and peering at the contents inside.

"We've got beers and spray paint cans here." He glowered at Lucas, "You the one that painted all that stuff on the wall, punk?"

Lucas snarled at him, pointedly ignoring the question.

"We're taking you downtown." He finally said when it became apparent Lucas had no intention of responding.

As one of the patrolmen yanked Lucas' arms down and handcuffed them behind his back, Lucas closed his eyes, letting out a long, uneasy breath.

He was so screwed.


	3. Chapter 2

**Ummm, just to reiterate. This is _based_ on AWR, as in certain plot points only...  
**

 **A/N: Also, Brandon is The Rebel from Girl Meets Friendship. LOL, he reminds me of Nick Dean from Jimmy Neutron.**

 **Thank you for the reviews! I appreciate them! :)  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.**

* * *

"Friar." A cop called out, opening the holding cell door, "You're free to go."

Lucas stood up from his corner, rotating his shoulder to loosen it up from the uncomfortable way he had fallen asleep the night before. Sitting on the concrete floor, one eye open. He was surprised he'd been able to get out in less than 48 hours. He wondered if anyone had pitched in to get him out of holding.

He walked out of the cell and followed the cop to another room, rubbing his eye somewhat sleepily. When they reached the lobby of the county jail, Lucas cursed under his breath and considered turning right back around and going into holding again.

His mom was standing there, arms crossed and a fierce frown etched on her face as she glared at him.

"This your son, ma'am?"

She nodded, her eyes boring holes into Lucas. He really was screwed.

"Alright. You have a good Monday now."

She turned around without another word, and Lucas followed her, knowing anything he said would just incite early anger. The last thing he wanted was to get yelled at the whole car ride home. They got in her car, and drove on their way home. The entire ride, she was dead silent, and Lucas didn't even think about turning on the radio as he usually did. She was definitely pissed at him.

"Go get ready for school." She said, as soon as they parked in front of their complex.

He could hear the anger in her voice just bubbling under the surface, and he knew what would be awaiting him once he finished getting ready.

Once in his room, Lucas quickly got ready for school. When he got out of the shower, he realized it wasn't eight yet, so he still had time to grab breakfast and make it on time. He gathered his books and materials and walked slowly to the living room, hoping that maybe if he was quiet enough, he could get past his mother and avoid facing her wrath.

No such luck.

She was scrubbing at the aged coffee stain on the kitchen counter with an old dish rag and some bleach. Lucas winced. That was her coping mechanism whenever something went wrong or whenever she was furious at something. Or _someone._ In this case: himself.

He bowed his head and started to walk past her, hoping she would just ignore him. But she set the rag down with a heavy sigh, placing her hand on her hip.

"Honestly Lucas. I don't know what the hell is the matter with you."

He closed his eyes momentarily, starting up his usual speech when he got into trouble, "It was just a mistake, Mom. It won't happen ag–"

"Save it!" she snapped, slapping the counter in irritation, "Do you know how high your bail was set? I had to call your father to pay it off because I couldn't afford it this time!"

Lucas' gaze snapped to hers furiously.

"Why the hell did you call him?!" he shouted, "I'd rather rot in a cell than be let go because of him!"

"Shut up!" She rubbed her temple in annoyance, "Underage drinking. Public intoxication. _Vandalism_! Lucas, you are out of control! This is your third infraction this year and who knows what other stuff you've done that I don't know about. I can't take much more of this. If you don't get your act together, I'm sending you back to Texas to live with him."

Lucas' jaw clenched, and he narrowed his eyes at his mother, feeling his rage boil under his skin.

"What?" he growled.

She shook her head, letting out a distressed sigh, "I don't know what to do anymore. Why are you doing this? Is this some sort of twisted need to get back at your father or something?"

"I have to go to school."

Lucas spun on his heel and snatched up the keys to his truck, walking to the door without looking back.

" _Lucas_!"

He walked straight out the door and double timed down the complex stairs, heading to his truck. He slammed his car door shut and blasted his music as loudly as he could as he drove to John Adams High trying to quell his anger. His hands were still shaking even when he arrived and parked in his spot and he took a deep breath, running his hands through his hair and trying to calm down. But all he could think about was his mom having to dial that number and call the man who had made her so miserable for so many years. Why the hell had she called him of all people?

He took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing himself to think about something else. If he kept those thoughts in his head, he knew he wouldn't make it through the school day without punching someone.

Lucas got out of his car and leaned against the door as Billy pulled up in his spot nearby. Missy hopped out of the passenger seat, giving Billy a quick kiss and Lucas a wave before scampering off to join her cheerleader girlfriends sitting at the picnic benches in front of the building.

"Heard you got busted." Billy said, walking around to where Lucas was resting.

"Yeah." He said, his teeth grit, "My dad bailed me out."

Billy winced and looked around cautiously before procuring a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

"Need a smoke?"

"Badly."

Lucas pulled one out and borrowed Billy's lighter, lighting it and taking a long drag. He could just feel the relief running through his system and almost sighed in relief. He hated smoking with a passion, but even he couldn't deny the therapeutic effect it had on him when he was on the verge of breaking something. He took a couple more long drags before snubbing the end out on the hood of his car and waving away the smoke. He gave it back to Billy who slipped it into the pack.

"I have a feeling I'm gonna need that later."

The early bell rang, signifying the start of homeroom, and the two began their way to the school. Billy was chattering about some girl or another that Zay had met who definitely had an STD, but Lucas wasn't paying attention to anything he was saying. His eyes were on the steps of the building, where a cop was standing next to Principal Hearst on the lookout for a specific student. A specific student he knew was him.

"Fuck me…" he muttered under his breath when the principal caught sight of him and crooked his finger at him.

"Mr. Friar. If you would please join us in my office."

Billy glanced at Lucas and then gave him a good luck clap on the shoulder before hurrying inside the doors. Lucas groaned and followed the two men inside the school, ignoring the whispering and staring students in the hallway, who were all intrigued by what was occurring.

In the office, he was directed to sit across Hearst's desk, and he slumped down into his chair, a bored look on his face. Now was the part where he would get in trouble with the school for whatever crap he did, and they'd give him detention. If he'd heard it once, he'd heard it a million times. The late bell for homeroom rang shortly after and the officer cleared his throat.

"Lucas Friar." The officer began, reading off of a sheet of paper. "Arrested three times in the past several months alone. You've really outdone yourself with these acts of juvenile delinquency."

"Yeah? So what? You gonna give me a slap on the wrist or something? Do you want me to bend over and pull my pants down?"

Mr. Hearst snorted in amusement, giving Lucas a wry smirk. "I like you kid. I really do. But you fucked up."

"Yes, you see, you were seventeen when you messed up before." The officer said cryptically, "You couldn't be tried as an adult. You didn't even have to go the correctional facility because your dad could afford to keep you out of it."

Lucas' fists clenched tightly at the mention of the man he absolutely couldn't stand.

"And?" he growled.

"Thirteen counts of destruction of public property. Eight counts of destruction of _private_ property. Several counts of underage drinking, possession of alcohol as a minor, and of false identification. Five counts of breaking and entering of private property. Thousands of dollars in fines. The list goes on and on." The officer continued reading, undeterred by Lucas' attitude. "Let me put it this way, Friar. If we try you in court, you could be facing up to ten years or more in prison. You can kiss college and a possible future career goodbye."

Lucas swallowed thickly, suddenly feeling cold chills run down his back.

"Not to mention expulsion." Hearst added, chuckling softly. "But we're giving you a chance to make this up. Officer?"

The officer nodded, "As of now, you are on legal probation until you graduate. You will be subjected to 1400 hours of community service while on probation. You're lucky Mr. Hearst decided not to press charges. I think it goes without saying that one more act of delinquency, and you will be thrown in jail without bail, tried in court and then imprisoned. I'm sure you don't want that."

Lucas didn't say a word, trying to keep his breathing even. His mouth had gone incredibly dry.

"Let me know if this one cuts up anymore, William."

"Thanks Mick. I will." Mr. Hearst responded as the officer left the small office.

Hearst turned to Lucas, leaning back in his plush chair with a raised brow, "Spray paint? Really?"

"Just something to pass the time, sir." Lucas said sarcastically, eyes narrowed.

"Hmm, no doubt." He picked up the mini-football on his desk, tossing it up and down, "It's just surprising… I didn't know you were a fan of painting marijuana on walls."

Lucas said nothing, watching the principal impassively.

"In fact, last year, if I recall correctly, one of your friends got in trouble for painting marijuana in the boy's bathroom. Seems like _his_ MO, don't you think?"

"I don't know what you're getting at, sir, but first period is about to start soon." Lucas said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "If you could get this show on the road, that would be great. What are my punishments?"

"Alright, Lucas." Mr. Hearst sat up straight, watching him seriously, "You burned every single set already made for the winter play. It took almost an entire summer and everyone worked hard on them. Now you've set back woodshop and our only set painter almost an entire semester. You're lucky that we have all the students for woodshop available now, but we have only one person who paints the sets. So you're going to spend every afternoon helping her paint the sets for the play.

"You will also be spending time with janitor Harley cleaning up trash on the school grounds, scraping gum off of bleachers and classroom desks, cleaning the bathrooms, and scrubbing every inch of that paint off the wall you graffitied until this semester is over."

"What? You don't want an arm and leg too?" Lucas spat, rolling his eyes.

"And finally," Hearst continued, unaffected by his animosity, "You will be participating in our after school tutoring program every Wednesday at the children's hospital. These kids just want to learn and go to school like everyone else, but have been subjected to spending their lives in a hospital bed. So you'll be providing that chance. Of course, all of these, will count towards your community service hour requirements. That good enough for you?"

"More lenient than I expected."

"Lucas. Your grades are top notch. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders." Hearst shook his head in disappointment, "Are those really the kind of people you want to be hanging out with? For goodness sakes, they left you behind when you were arrested."

"My friends weren't involved." Lucas said almost automatically, teeth grit.

"Cut the crap. You and I both know that's not true. But for whatever reason, you've decided to take the fall for them."

Lucas said nothing, glaring at the principal heatedly.

"Can I go now?"

The bell signifying the start of first period went off, and Mr. Hearst sighed.

"Mr. Harley will see you at the gym wall as soon as classes let out for the day." He gestured to the door, "I hope you reevaluate your life, Lucas. You have so much potential, and it's a shame to watch you waste it on these petty acts of rebellion."

"Have a nice day."

Lucas shot out of the chair and snatched up his bag, irritably storming out of the office.

~.~.~

By lunch time, it had become apparent to Lucas that pretty much the whole school knew about him getting arrested on Saturday night. As he walked through the cafeteria, he could easily see people were whispering and staring, probably trying to speculate what he'd done in order to even get arrested in the first place. Their school had plenty of students who had run-ins with the law, but he was the only one who'd gotten arrested multiple times and was still allowed to walk the halls of the school.

And Lucas knew it was because of his damn father.

Even away from him and out of Texas, he still had his influence all over Lucas' life, and Lucas couldn't stand it. Teeth clenched tightly and seething, Lucas pulled off his headphones and walked to the table near the wall where his group of friends were chilling and laughing.

As he approached and they saw him, they clapped, giving him a standing ovation and causing a disturbance in the cafeteria.

"There he is! Lucas Friar, everybody!" Zay called out, clapping him on the back as he took his seat in the mess of popular students, all watching him like he was some sort of king.

"So what was it like in jail for the third time?" Missy asked, finally breaking away from Billy's face long enough to ask him the question.

"The same as always…" Lucas muttered in annoyance, not in a particular mood to speak to anyone.

Billy seemed to pick up on it and addressed everyone at the table.

"Hey, give him some space guys."

"You didn't tell anyone we were involved, did you?" Brandon asked with a raised brow, picking at his fingernails with his fork.

Lucas looked up and glowered at them, "I'm not a snitch. But thanks for being fucking cowards and running."

Brandon sneered at him, "Not our fault you're a dumbass."

Zay put his hands up placatingly, "Guys, just chill."

"So what was your punishment?" Another girl asked, leaning over the table pushing her chest up with her arms. She was some sophomore that Lucas was pretty sure had gotten in with the group because she had banged several of the guys. He couldn't even remember her name—Jessica or something—but he seemed to be her next target. "My brother went to jail last year. Said he had a bunch of community service to do."

"Yeah. I do too."

She smiled flirtatiously and leaned over further, hushing her tone so it was directed only at Lucas.

"My dad works as a lawyer…" she near purred, tracing her finger along his hand, "We can fix it so it looks like you did the work."

Lucas frowned, ready to retort when some guys at their table started hooting and making a lot of noise in general. He slid his hand out from under hers and turned to face the commotion. They were watching two students who had walked into the cafeteria, holding hands and smiling shyly at each other.

One of them was in his physics class, some sarcastic little pipsqueak nerd with some weird ass name. Farkle maybe. The other was the annoying, naive girl whose father taught history. Riley or something. He'd never had conversations with either of them before, since they were bottom of the food chain, but he had never seen them together as a couple before.

 _I guess they're dating now_ …

It didn't matter to him, since he didn't give a crap about the affairs of other people at their school, but clearly, the people at his table cared too much about it.

"Bet you twenty bucks he's not a virgin anymore." Brandon cackled.

"She probably blew him last night. Look how happy he looks." Jackson responded, laughing uproariously.

Several people at their table laughed, thinking it was incredibly funny. Lucas frowned and rolled his eyes, not feeling like sitting through the tormenting this time around. He should have just skipped lunch like he'd originally planned.

Riley and Farkle walked by on the way to their table of friends, heads slightly down and probably hoping to avoid the wrath of the popular table.

No such luck.

As soon as Riley walked by Brandon, his hand trailed backwards, and he flipped up her skirt. She gasped, affronted, and spun around, holding the back of her skirt down with wide, terrified eyes.

"Damn Matthews… I don't think I've ever seen those panties on anyone other than my grandma…" he drawled, raising a brow.

The table erupted into more laughter, and Riley's face burned bright red. Appalled, Farkle stepped in front of Riley with an angry glare.

"Hey! Leave her alone!"

"Or what?" Zay responded with a snort, "You gonna fight us?"

Farkle licked his lips nervously, now that the laughter had died down and the students were staring at him with irritated looks on their faces, some of them with disgusted sneers.

"Farkle, it's okay…" Riley said softly in his ear, grasping his shoulders, "It isn't worth it."

"Yes it is Riley!" he said earnestly, "I'm sick and tired of all these rich assholes thinking it's okay to pick on us."

"Aww…" Billy cooed, "Does it bother you?"

Farkle's eyes narrowed, "You all think you're so special, but you know what? My dad's also on the Board of Trustees. If your moms and dads didn't pay their way for you to get out of trouble, you all wouldn't even be at this school. You're nothing without your parent's money."

And Lucas' blood ran red hot in rage. He shot up out of his chair before anyone could react and rounded on Farkle, eyes glinting sharply in anger.

"What the fuck did you just say, you little shit?" Lucas growled, dangerously low.

He grabbed the boy's collar and shoved him up against the wall before pulling him up. Farkle yelped and swallowed thickly, watching Lucas with wide, scared eyes.

"Farkle!" Riley cried out, and then struggled against Mitch when he stood up and kept her from moving to help him. "Stop it! Leave him alone."

"N-nothing …" Farkle said, lip slightly quivering in fright.

"You don't know a damn thing about us." Lucas snarled, narrowing his eyes, "You should keep your mouth shut before someone kicks your scrawny little ass."

The cafeteria had gone dead quiet by now and everyone was staring at the spectacle that was brewing, but no one got up and some were pointedly ignoring it, too scared to get involved and too scared to possibly become a target.

And then before Lucas could do anything, Brandon and Jackson stood up and yanked Farkle's pants down to his ankles, laughing all the while. They grabbed him from Lucas and flipped him over into the nearby dumpster. Mitch let go of a teary eyed Riley, and she ran over to the trash can where Farkle's skinny, naked legs were flailing about trying to get out. Then most of the cafeteria erupted into laughter as they watched what had happened to him. Lucas snapped out of his angry haze and stared a little horrified at the poor boy, feeling a little bad because no one deserved that kind of humiliation. He had only meant to scare him a little, but this whole thing had blown way out of proportion.

And then a blonde head of hair ran right by the table and shoved Lucas out of the way to get to Farkle. She helped Riley get a hold of his ankles and pulled him somewhat out so he could climb out the rest of the way. She helped the red-faced, distressed Farkle pull up his pants and wiped a tear from Riley's eyes as the brunette hugged her boyfriend.

Lucas recognized her. It was Maya Hart, a girl so incredibly poor that she wore pretty much the same clothes at least twice a week. He would always see her skipping class and sitting on the large oak in front of the school, sketching in her notebooks. She tended to miss a lot of school on occasion for no explainable reasons.

He had been in school with Maya since they were young, but never had he really paid attention to her at all or really had a real conversation with her. All he remembered was that one time in third grade, she had given him a lollipop the day he had been crying in class when his parents got divorced.

Maya and Riley flanked Farkle and helped him stand amidst all the laughter and then she walked with them back towards the cafeteria doors. As the couple left, she let go of Farkle and spun around, glaring at Lucas' group of friends.

"You all are a bunch of dicks." She spat, her stormy blue-gray eyes shining with disgust.

"Yeah? Hey Hart, what's it like being the daughter of the city whore?" Mitch shouted back at her, to even more laughter from the cafeteria.

"Hey Hart. The entire male population of New York City called." Jackson said, "They want compensation for the chlamydia they caught from your mom."

"I've got 5 cents on me. I can afford your mom, right?" Brandon said with a sneer.

Her blazing glare turned to him, a few parts disgust and a couple other parts something Lucas couldn't recognize. "You seem pretty desperate Brandon. Does it bother you that my mom's gotten more in a week than you've gotten in two years? I think we know who wins here."

"Shut up, Hart." He snarled, flipping off a couple people when they _oooh_ ed at her burn, "Your mom is trash. And you? You're gonna end up in porno or on the streets just like her. You've already gotten a head start, haven't you? Gangbanger."

"Yeah, gangbanger!"

"Gangbanger!"

Laughter erupted once again, and Brandon sparked up a vicious chant. Even students at other tables were joining in on the "fun". It was horrifying.

Lucas watched appalled as Maya's lip quivered, her nostrils flaring slightly and an unmistakable shine in her eyes that Lucas recognized as impending tears. She glared at them angrily, sniffling once, before closing her eyes momentarily and then opening them, lifting her head in pride and steeling her expression.

Her eyes briefly met Lucas' and part of him wanted to apologize and tell her she didn't deserve it, but he stayed quiet, standing there in slight shock. Her eyes narrowed, and she shook her head in disgust before spinning on her heel and leaving the mass of laughing students.

Lucas sank back down into his seat, feeling sick to his stomach.


	4. Chapter 3

**Damn! Okay so stupidly, it completely wiped my mind that I _already_ uploaded this story a month ago which is so stupid because I literally responded to a review in June lol but for some reason I forgot, and I thought it'd just been sitting in my idea notebook untouched until StarsAndSparkles reminded me that it has been a month since I last updated! Apologies loves!  
**

 **Thank you for the reviews! I truly appreciate it! :)  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.**

* * *

The bell signifying the end of yet another day of long, unnecessary classes rang throughout the school, and Lucas stood up with a groan, stretching his tired limbs as their teacher dismissed them. He gathered his books and trudged out of the class to his locker, his mood sour because of where he knew he would have to go.

As he put in his combination to his locker, Billy sauntered over, tossing his keys up and down in his hand.

"Hey. You free right now?"

Lucas rolled his eyes in annoyance, grabbing his bag after stuffing it with his books and shutting his locker. "No. I have to meet the janitor behind the school."

"So I take it you can't come over and hang out?" Billy asked.

"Maybe after." Lucas said. It sure beat heading home to an angry mother just waiting for him to arrive so she could berate the shit out of him until his ears fell off. "Definitely after."

"Great, because Missy told me that Samantha told her that Jennifer wants to bang you. We need to talk about this."

 _That's_ what her name was. Not Jessica.

Lucas snorted and gave him a dry look. "You sound like a gossiping girl."

Billy shrugged, though he had a smirk on his lips, "Consequence of dating a chatterbox, I guess."

"Mr. Friar." Hearst called out as he walked down the hall to head to the teacher's lounge. "Don't you have somewhere to be? Get going."

"I'll see you later?" Billy asked sympathetically.

"Yeah."

Lucas slung his bag over his shoulder and walked towards the back of the school through the crowds of chattering students, excited that another taxing Monday of school had finally been finished. He honestly hoped that this wall cleaning could go by quickly. His mood was already soured from the lunchtime incident. He knew any other annoyances could honestly set him over the edge.

Thankfully, people in the halls seemed to pick up on his heightened anger and steered clear of his path, moving away so they didn't incur his wrath.

He stormed out the back doors leading to behind the school and made his way over to the gym wall.

~.~.~

"It's a very nice penis." Janitor Harley said appreciatively, rubbing his chin pensively. "Very lifelike. You know, whoever drew this should consider taking up art instead of vandalizing walls…"

Lucas kept silent as he scrubbed at an F word written in orange, unsure if Harley was cracking a joke or not. It looked like a cartoon banana with a smiley face and two volleyballs on each side of it, but it was hard to tell whether the older man was being funny.

Harley nudged Lucas, chuckling under his breath. "Relax kid. You're not the first to graffiti a wall, you know? Happens at least twice a week."

"Oh." Lucas stooped to get more soapy water on his sponge before he stood up to continue scrubbing at the paint stains.

Harley eyed him for a second, "You know if you don't have some fun with this, you'll end up miserable before your hour is up."

Lucas sighed and turned to him. "What do you want me to do? Smile and laugh like I'm having the time of my life? Because you and I both know that would be nothing but bullshit."

Harley nodded with a smirk. "Hmm. I see your point, kid. So I suppose you should just stand here in silence, cleaning until your fingers are raw from the solution and you want to dunk your head in a toilet full of shit."

Lucas rolled his eyes and cleaned off the last of the F, passing the sponge over the wall one more time to make sure the wipe marks and any leftover residue was cleared away. He picked up the pressure hose and blasted water at the wall to get any dried paint out of the pores.

Harley smiled, pointing to the lopsided shooting star. "This seems a little out of place in this sea of teenage vulgarity, don't you think?"

"I guess…" Lucas muttered. He had definitely drawn that one. He didn't know what had compelled him to back then or when exactly he'd put it up there, but he knew that he'd had the green paint.

"You draw this star?"

"Probably."

Harley peered at it more closely, scrutinizing the contours of the star. "It's a really shitty star."

Lucas rolled his eyes again, starting up on cleaning the giant blue cannabis leaf. "I was drunk."

"All you teens always are…" Harley commented dryly, tugging on his rubber gloves. "And then you fuck up my walls."

Lucas sighed. "Look, I'm sorry."

"Then why'd you do it?" Harley asked, shaking his head, "Why do you do stuff like this if you're just going to regret it completely?"

Lucas remained silent, staring at the wall. He honestly didn't have an answer to that.

"Let me give you some advice, kid." Harley said, "I used to be rebellious too and all into the whole being a delinquent thing. I ended up in jail for quite a while. Look where I am now. I've been the janitor in a high school for twenty something years now. And quite honestly, I wouldn't even have this job if it weren't for a friend of mine."

Lucas glanced at him, a little surprised by the revelation.

"Get out while you still can, Friar. Find people you can hang out with who won't suck you into the bad stuff. Trust me, it'll do you a whole lotta good in the long run."

"Seems like everyone wants to give me a lecture today…" Lucas grumbled, continuing to scrub harshly at the wall.

"Not a lecture. _Advice_. We're all trying to keep you from ruining your life."

"And how the hell would you know I'm ruining my life?" Lucas growled with an irritated raised brow, "Maybe I'm enjoying it. Maybe I like it this way."

Harley stared at him for a second before letting out a short bark of laughter, loud and obnoxious, and Lucas grit his teeth in annoyance. Why did it feel like this guy was mocking him?

"Who the hell do you think you're kidding? You think if you honestly enjoyed your little 'act like a super dick and get in trouble all the time' life you would be out here helping me clean up this mess? That you'd be out here taking the fall for your ditching friends? I can see plain as day that you want out."

"What the fuck do you know about me?" Lucas snapped, spinning around and glaring at Harley, "You're the fucking _janitor_ in this shit hole of a school who I've never met in my life. Stop acting like you know shit all about me."

"Fair enough. I'll stop bugging you." He chuckled, unaffected by Lucas' ire. He picked up the toolbox he'd left on the ground before walking back towards the school with a nonchalant wave. "I'll see you tomorrow after school at the second floor bathrooms."

Lucas was left to himself to clean up the mess, and he sighed in annoyance, going back to the tedious motions to wipe off the paint. He knew he was brooding, but he was pissed off and tired of all these damn lectures about his life. He didn't want their advice or their unnecessary comments. Why couldn't everyone just leave him the hell alone?

~.~.~

After finally finishing cleaning the wall and finally washing it down so that there was no more paint residue, Lucas had gone to wash his hands of all the paint grit and the cleaning solution. By the time he had finally gotten the smell out of his nose, it was just around five. He just wanted this day to end, but he still had to head to the art room to find this set painter and help her get the sets done.

Lucas made his way to the art room in the basement of the school. He walked down the hall stairs and headed to the far back, past the storage closets and the extra chairs and band stands and tables. It smelled musty, and there was a lingering scent of mold.

His nose wrinkled as he walked into the art room. It was small and crowded and looked like everything art related had been shoved in one single corner. The smell of paint was completely overpowering and there wasn't enough air circulating inside the squished room to help it.

Maya was seated straight-backed on a stool in front of an easel near the front of the room, her back facing him. Her wavy blonde hair was tied in a high ponytail at the crown of her head slung over her shoulder and to Lucas' surprise, he caught the image of a tattoo peeking out from under the collar of her shirt. When she leaned forward to dip her brush into the paint station in front of her easel, he noticed it was a shooting star.

"A shooting star?" he whispered, a little absentmindedly.

"Can I help you?" Maya said, still painting the canvas.

"Uh, hey. I'm looking for the set painter for the theater department."

"You're looking at her." She didn't turn around.

"Oh… Hi, I'm–"

"I know who you are." She cut him off, "Lucas Friar. Asshole extraordinaire and coward."

Lucas' eyes narrowed, a little put off by the harshness of her tone. "Well that's a little harsh, don't you think?"

She ignored him. "You're late."

"I had to clean up the gym wall." His brows furrowed when she didn't respond to his words nor did she even acknowledge he had said anything. "Can you at least look at me when I'm speaking to you?"

"You're not entitled to my attention." She remarked coldly, her paintbrush still gently drifting over the canvas, colouring the white of the fabric with a soft green.

He felt his irritation spike. Damn she was a bitch.

"Fine then." Lucas walked fully into the room, stalking past her and standing in front of her easel, facing her. "I'll move so I have your attention."

The only reaction he was awarded was a slight narrowing of her eyes in annoyance, but other than that, she kept her eyes firmly on her painting.

"You're blocking my light." She grit out after a few moments of silence. "Can you move?"

"Not until you tell me what I have to do." He said, purposely shifting over so an even bigger shadow was cast over the canvas. Maya stopped moving her brush and her grip tightened immeasurably.

"Asshole…"

"Look. I don't want to be here any more than you want me to be here." He shrugged, feeling a bit triumphant that he had the upper hand. "So just tell me where the sets are, and I can paint them in an hour and be on my way."

She slapped her brush down on the brush holder of her easel and frowned, her eyes roving over what she had painted.

"You think it's that easy to paint sets that you can be done with it in one hour?" she said in disgust, her jaw clenched tight, "It took me all summer to do all that work—all fucking summer—and you ruined it because you're an ass. You don't even have the decency to _apologize_ for everything you burned."

And Lucas' eyebrows lifted, partly because he knew he _hadn't_ apologized. But also partly because despite the fact that she was masking it well, he could still hear the pain in her voice. He hadn't even been the one to burn them, yet that feeling of shame that'd been so prevalent during lunch hit him full force, and he felt appalled at himself. She'd been the only one to paint them. With her small stature and tiny body, it must have been a lot of work. And then he and his friends had just torched them like it was game.

He moved back from her easel, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. "I'm sorry about the sets. I didn't realize that much work had been put into them."

"Then why'd you do it?"

She glanced up from her canvas, shrewdly watching him and finally meeting his gaze for the first time since he'd walked in. There was a sharp, unforgiving glare in her eyes, and Lucas realized that her eyes were a really startling blue-gray. They were beautiful, if not a little striking.

"That seems to be the question of the day…" He finally said, not really knowing how to respond to her inquiry.

Clearly that was the wrong answer. Her eyes narrowed, eyes glinting in pure loathing.

" _Pathetic_." she scoffed.

"What?" he growled, raising a brow.

"So you don't even know why you do shitty things to people. You just do them. For shits and giggles. And then you stand there, king of your mountain of trash, while everyone else suffers because you're the biggest fucking asshole on the entire planet."

"I…" And he frowned. This wasn't about the sets. "You're talking about lunch today."

"And the award goes to Lucas Friar for making an _obvious_ connection." She sneered, clapping her hands derogatorily, "You're a real dick, you know that? Farkle didn't deserve that kind of humiliation or treatment."

Lucas averted his gaze, starting at a spot on the cracked tiles of the art room floor. He could still see the image of Farkle's thin legs flailing about trying to find a way to get out. He could still hear Riley's cries, begging and pleading them to stop.

"He didn't."

"And your crony of friends tossed him in the garbage. Do you know how awful that must be? To be pantsed and then tossed into a trash can?"

"I can't imagine…"

"People don't come to school to be harassed and treated like crap you know. Our lives are already hard enough as it is!"

He knew she was exerting all her frustrations onto him because he was there, despite the fact that he wasn't the only one who had been involved in the bullying of her friend, but he didn't say anything to counter her words. Because she was right.

"I'm sorry."

"And you people just–" And Maya stopped abruptly, staring up at him wide-eyed in confusion, "Wait, you've been agreeing with me?"

"He didn't deserve that. I was just pissed, but it shouldn't have gotten that far." Lucas confirmed, feeling like absolute shit.

Her eyebrows lifted the slightest bit as she stared at him and then she looked back down at her easel with a sigh, curling a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"…Wasn't expecting that."

"Expecting what?"

"An apology…" she rolled her eyes. "Fuck, if you're nice about it then it makes it hard to yell at you."

His lips quirked up in a little amused smile. Was she for real?

"Still…" she frowned at her canvas. "The one you should be apologizing to is him. Not me."

"Fair enough. But I'm also apologizing on behalf of my friends for the gangbanger taunting. That was awful."

Her eyebrow twitched the slightest bit at the reminder of the cruel words that had been flung at her by people in the cafeteria. There was a moment of silence where she scuffed her shoe against the ground, her face hidden from Lucas' view. Then she lifted her head, glancing up at him, her expression hard to read.

"I appreciate the apology." She said quietly, "But it means nothing to me."

He stared at her in slight shock, completely put off by how sharp her words had been. Yet, her eyes had softened and held none of that stony undertone and hardened shadow he had seen before. She was regarding him curiously, as if trying to figure him out. She had opened herself up a little to him. And he could read her. He could see a bit of the vulnerability in her eyes. Something deep and sad and melancholic.

"I–"

"Never mind that." Maya waved her hand, cutting him off before he could say anything else. "Have you ever painted a set before? Or anything else? You know, aside from gym walls?"

And just like that, she closed herself off again, regarding him coolly, arms crossed and expression indifferent. It was a bit jarring seeing her make such a sudden switch.

"I haven't."

She sighed and stood up off of the stool, rolling her eyes in exasperation as she walked towards the back where boxes were stacked one on top of the other and everything seemed to be haphazardly placed.

"Figures…" she grumbled under her breath.

She stooped down and opened one of the boxes and pulled out a painting sketchpad and a small paint set, one of the kiddy looking ones that Lucas remembered using back in elementary school. She rummaged a little bit more through the box before pulling out a couple brushes.

"You need to practice getting consistent and even strokes and varying the viscosity of the paint from the amount of water added." She said. "If you can do that in one night, then the sets will look cleaner once you paint them, and you won't have to worry about redoing them."

"Are you sure it's okay for me to use those? What about all the students taking art?"

"You mean the _six_ students who take studio art?"

"There are only six of you? How come there are so few?"

Maya turned over her shoulder and gave him a look. "Do you know anything about this school other than what pertains to you and your friends?"

That bugged him.

"Okay, to be fair, we've never had a real conversation before. Obviously I wouldn't know what's going on in your life."

Her look transformed into a disparaging glare. "I'm talking about the funding for the arts at the school being cut by two-thirds because it was deemed unnecessary. And that money is being used to increase protective measures at this school since _some_ students feel like trespassing from time to time and trashing the school. But of course you wouldn't know that since you're so caught up in your own life."

Lucas ran a hand through his hair with a low, irritated sigh. "Look. I get that you hate me. But can you cut me some slack? It's not like my life has been fun and games either."

"Oh boohoo." She scoffed, "You get arrested a couple times because you're stupid enough to get into trouble and all of a sudden your life is hard? Give me a break."

"You know what? I don't need this." He growled, narrowing his eyes. "Just give me the damn stuff so I can go. I've got things to do, and I'd rather not spend my time getting chewed out by some frigid bitch."

Her lip curled, and she stood up slowly, her eyes glinting in that way that he knew meant she was pissed. She stalked over to him, roughly shoving the paper and the set of paints and the brushes into his chest. He caught it with a grunt, and she spun around and snatched up her bag from the floor.

"You better be here on time tomorrow, shit bag." She said over her shoulder as she left the room. "God, you're such a dick…"

Lucas stood in his place, staring after her in irritation. What the hell was with her? And why was she such a cross bitch? He got that she was angry because of some of the stuff he'd been involved in but damn, some of her irritation and comments toward him were unjustified. Sure, he'd done his fair share of pretty fucking awful stuff, but he couldn't be held accountable for _everything_. She was being immature.

He rolled his eyes and looked down at the stuff in his hand. And then he realized that on each of the things she'd given him, there was a neat M.P. Hart scrawled in Sharpie.

These were _her_ personal painting materials. Not the art program's.

And she was letting him use them to get practice.

"Fuck…"

Lucas shoved the stuff in his bag and then raced out of the art room, going through the hall and hurrying up the stairs. She couldn't have gotten that far, could she?

As he rounded the corner towards the front entrance of the school, he saw her walking to the door, her ponytail swinging side by side in time with her steps.

"Maya, wait." He called out.

She stopped walking and turned around, eyeing him indifferently as he came to a stop in front of her.

"Look I didn't mean to say that. I'm sorry." he said, "Thank you for letting me use your stuff to practice."

She stared up at him for a second, silently contemplating him for a while before her lips quirked up into something of a small smile.

"You've really been doing a lot of apologizing."

"Yeah." He grinned, laughing slightly. "Story of my life."

Maya sighed in resignation, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Okay. I think we got off on the wrong foot. If we have to work together to paint these sets, then it won't do for us to be at each other's throats all the time. So let's start over."

"That sounds good."

She nodded. "I'm Maya Hart."

"Lucas Friar."

"Well, Lucas. I'm looking forward to working on these sets with you."

She smiled then, a _real_ smile, and one Lucas had never seen on her face before. It lit up her face like a bright light and made her eyes sparkle. It caught him completely off guard, and for a second, Lucas found himself stupidly blinking at her, captivated by her. Was this was the same Maya he'd seen in the art room?

"Uh… s-same." He stammered, trying to play off his momentary lapse of response.

"See you tomorrow." She said as she turned to leave the school, "And be on time."

He could only nod dumbly for a moment before finally leaving towards the parking lot in the back. He could have sworn that for a moment, just a moment, his heart had skipped a beat. What the hell had that been?


	5. Chapter 4

**Alright. I think I can continue this story now that I'm no longer messed up from Forever lol. Tragedies are not easy to write.  
**

 **Thank you for the kind words and the reviews! I appreciate it and I thank you for taking a chance with this story! :)  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.**

* * *

Lucas couldn't deny that part of him was somewhat excited about painting sets. It wasn't like he _wanted_ to see Maya per se, but he'd actually practiced his painting and felt he'd gotten pretty good at it. In fact, he thought for only having one day, he'd learned it impeccably. And it was pretty therapeutic in a way. As Lucas had expected, his mom had chewed him out good when he had gotten home from Billy's, even staying up late in order to make sure he could get her earful. Lucas had locked himself in his room afterward, just blasting his music in his headphones and working on the assignment Maya had given him. It had surprisingly calmed him down from his stormy mood.

He had finally finished up scraping gum off of the bleachers and rushed to wash his hands and get to the art room because he was late. He wasn't sure how serious Maya had been about him being on time, but he felt bad about the day before and he felt he had to make it up to her somehow.

Lucas walked into the art room, his nose wrinkling at the pungent odor of musk and paint and the heat that seemed to permeate the room, despite the fact that most of the school was fairly cool. Maya was sitting cross legged on the ground, painting strokes of gray on a large wooden backdrop. From the fact that all her hair was carefully piled on her head so none of it was hanging down, and she had shed all her layers and was wearing only a tanktop, he could tell she had been there a while. She wiped some sweat from her brow with a sigh.

"Maya."

She glanced up and once again, Lucas was reminded of just how gorgeous and arresting her eyes were.

"You're late." She muttered, turning her gaze back to her task at hand.

"Sorry, I was helping the janitor."

She barely responded, save for a disinterested grunt. Lucas frowned, standing in the doorway holding her paint supplies and not totally sure what she wanted him to do. He thought they'd made peace already, but she was acting like he was a thorn in her side. Maybe he had been wrong about the truce she'd declared?

"I brought your paints back." he finally said after the silence had dragged on for too long.

"Did you practice?" she asked, still focused on her painting.

"Yeah. I think I've got the hang of it."

Maya rose a brow, looking up at him, a challenging look in her eyes.

"Really?" She set her paintbrush back in the can, picking up a clean one beside her and holding it up to him. "Then paint some of this and show me."

Lucas was a little put off by her tone, but sat down next to her, taking the brush from her. He felt like he was on the chopping block being scrutinized carefully by Maya who had fallen silent and was observing him calmly. But he felt uneasy. Somehow, he just knew she was already expecting him to fail miserably and was waiting for the moment to shoot him down. It really made him want to prove her wrong.

He carefully dipped the brush in some of the paint, making sure it was covered, but not dripping excess. He followed the way he had practiced all night, bringing it to the wood and pressing down, hard enough to have an even layer, but not too hard that he ended up with a big glob of paint. He had practiced it tens of thousands of times with more water added to the paint or less water added. He fancied himself a newbie expert by this point, but painting in front of Maya made him anxious. Her face was set in something of a scowl, and he wondered if he was actually messing up pretty badly.

 _Breathe, Lucas… She's not going to bite you._

"Not bad." Maya firmly enclosed her hand around his wrist, and Lucas almost jolted when the static from her fingers shocked him. She guided his motions calmly, her chin almost resting on his shoulder. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, a little startled by how close she had gotten. "But keep your wrist steady. And make confident, clean, and even strokes. It's amateur, but it'll do, I guess."

"Gee thanks…" Lucas drawled, rolling his eyes.

Maya smirked. "I said not bad."

"I take it you're not the type to compliment people?"

She frowned. "Why would I compliment you on learning how to paint when the only purpose for you learning was because you ruined a bunch of sets and now need to repaint them? Do you think before you speak, Huckleberry?"

"Huckleberry?" Lucas' eyes narrowed. "Look, I get that you're mad at me still, but would it kill you to be a little nicer? I thought we were past the whole 'at each other's throat' thing."

"I am being nice." Maya snapped, letting go of his wrist and standing up, the scent of peaches assailing his nose as she moved. Lucas tried not to focus on the loss of the warmth from her lithe hand cradling his wrist. "We're past that point, sure, but that doesn't mean I like you. In fact, I _don't_ like you."

She gathered her paint materials and sketchbook from the ground and walked towards the back to put them back in the box of art supplies. She came back with a different set of coloured paints and smaller, more nuanced brushes.

Lucas rolled his eyes as she sat down, continuing to paint the set. "Right… You know you really know how to hold a grudge."

"Thank you." she said snidely, picking up her discarded brush to continue painting with Lucas.

"It wasn't a compliment."

"Really? Didn't notice." Maya sassed, steadily applying paint to the wood. "Now shut up and keep painting. The sooner we get some background painted, the sooner I can start putting the details on it."

Lucas fell silent, rolling his eyes as they continued their work. He had been hoping for a more cordial interaction. Perhaps one where they could actually talk a bit so it wouldn't be so tedious, but clearly Maya had no intention of being friendly. He knew he had messed up and that he'd made things more difficult for her, but did she have to be so snippy? He'd apologized. He was trying to make amends, and she was being way stubborn and honestly, a little bitchy.

And Lucas wouldn't lie.

It annoyed him quite a bit.

~.~.~

"Hey Sundance. Can you at least try to keep your strokes in the same direction or it'll look awkward when it dries."

This was the third order Maya had barked at him in the past ten minutes, and Lucas was starting to get fed up. They'd been painting the set for literal _hours_. His wrist was sore from repeating the same motions, his knees were on fire from resting on them for so long, he felt nauseous from the heat and the smell of paint, and he was starting to get cramped up. He was tired of painting this thing. He just wanted to stop, but they weren't anywhere close to being done. And it didn't help that Maya seemed to be just as cranky as he was and was taking her anger out on him.

"You think you could stop it with the nicknames?" He said, glowering at her, "I have a name, you know?"

"And I'll call you by it when you stop screwing up simple things." Maya responded, dismissing him.

Lucas growled under his breath, dipping his paintbrush back into the paint. He slammed it down on the set a little harder than he intended and paint splattered from the brush, bouncing up and splashing some of Maya's face and arm. She hopped slightly in surprise, blinking in confusion before her eyes slowly narrowed. She turned to him with a raised brow, her lips set in a thin line.

"Did you do that on purpose?"

Maya looked kind of funny with her glare and the little spots of gray paint on her face, and Lucas snorted, folding his lips over to try to keep from laughing. Maya's eyes glinted harshly, her expression darkening dangerously.

"You did."

"No, I didn't." Lucas said, snickering. "I swear."

Really. She looked pretty funny with taches of paint on her.

"You think it's funny." Maya stated, dipping her brush into the paint can.

"No, I swear I don't." But Lucas chuckled in amusement.

Before he could react, Maya's brush had swiped across his face, marking him across his nose and most of his mouth with the cold blue paint. His face fell as he stared at her in disbelief.

"Still funny?" She asked with a raised brow.

Lucas' jaw clenched. He put his brush calmly in the paint, mixing it around nonchalantly before lifting his hand up and putting a line of paint right across Maya's mouth. She looked pretty pissed after that, her eyes going glacial in a matter of seconds.

"It is now."

They stared at each other for a moment, not saying anything. Lucas could see the fury in her eyes, but there was also something like absolute shock, like she hadn't expected him to retaliate that way. It was the surprise on her face, coupled with the gray clown lips that she seemed to have that drove Lucas over the edge.

He started laughing loudly, unable to contain it any longer. She just looked so ridiculous, he couldn't help himself.

"You are such a pain." She growled.

And then, surprisingly, she started laughing too.

It was like all the tension had wooshed out of their bodies, leaving them a laughing mess. Maya's smile and laughter was _infectious_ , ricocheting off of the walls and sounding like music to his ears. After a few moments, his laugh tapered away and he gazed at Maya, clutching her stomach and still laughing. He could tell she probably hadn't laughed like that in a long time. He didn't know how he reached that conclusion, but he just had a feeling. And he also knew that he wanted to keep that smile.

The million watt, beautiful smile that made her face light up, and his heart rate speed up a little.

"Okay…" Maya chuckled, wiping away a tear. "I think we should call it a night before we try to kill each other or something."

"I agree."

She smiled at him, before rising to her feet and stretching languidly, groaning as her joints creaked and popped. Lucas followed suit, feeling satisfaction when he cracked his neck and the crick loosened and disappeared. They walked over to the sink against the wall, meticulously washing paint off of their faces and off of their fingers and arms. As Lucas dried his face with a paper towel, he found himself staring at the tattoo of the shooting star at the base of Maya's neck. He had a better view of it now since it wasn't obstructed by her hair or her shirt. He wondered when she had gotten it. Or why she had gotten it.

"I have to lock up the room, so get your stuff."

"You have a key to this room?" Lucas asked, as Maya walked over to the paint bins and replaced the lids.

She took the brushes and headed back to the sink to quickly rinse them off.

"I'm in here after school for so long that Ms. Kossal decided it would be best if I could lock up too instead of her staying or coming back in the late hours."

"I see."

They made quick work of cleaning up, lifting up the half-finished set and dragging it to one side of the wall before wiping paint stains from the floor and putting the supplies back where they belonged. Then they gathered their stuff and left the room. Maya locked up and they made their way back towards the back of the school. Maya waved at an officer doing patrol as they continued on their way.

Lucas wanted to ask Maya about her tattoo, but she was silent, her expression blank and he realized she didn't seem in any particular mood to talk anymore. Not to mention the fact that they weren't exactly friends so he didn't think Maya would tell him.

They opened the front doors of the school and were met with pouring rain, loud and roaring and making the already darkened night sky even darker and more ominous.

"Crap…" Maya sighed, digging in her messenger bag. "I forgot my umbrella."

Lucas glanced at her. "How are you getting home?"

"Subway."

The nearest subway station wasn't all that close to the school. It was pretty far, and she'd have to walk a handful of blocks to get there. And without an umbrella, she would get drenched.

"Let me give you a ride home."

Maya's eyes narrowed, her guard raised immediately and shoulders stiff.

"No thanks."

 _Could she be any more stubborn?_

"C'mon. It's pouring buckets out there. Do you really want to walk in the rain?"

She hesitated, chewing on her lower lip, looking like she was contemplating something.

"Plus, I have an umbrella." Lucas added, with a shrug.

Maya still didn't say anything, glaring at the ground. She seemed like she was at war with herself. Lucas rolled his eyes. She may have been stubborn, but Lucas knew how to play it to his advantage. He reached into his bag, pulling out his umbrella and opening it as he started to leave the school.

"Suit yourself. I'll see you tomorrow."

Her gaze shot up in alarm.

"Wait! Fine. I'll take the ride."

Lucas smirked as Maya hurried under the umbrella as they walked to his car in the parking lot. She stuck close to him, eyeing the falling rain uncomfortably, and Lucas was reminded of the image of a cat, unwilling to get drenched and uneasy with water. He stared down at the top of her head, surprised by how short she was. She barely came up to his shoulders.

He unlocked his truck and brought them around to the passenger side, opening the door for Maya. She climbed in and he hurried over to his side, hopping in after folding up his umbrella. He started his car and cranked up the heat when Maya shivered slightly. It was pretty cold outside and Maya wasn't wearing sleeves.

"Where do you live?"

"Do you know where Nighthawk Diner is?"

"Yeah." It wasn't particularly close to the school. "That's kind of far."

Maya bristled the slightest bit. "Just head to the diner, and I'll tell you from there."

"Okay."

He pulled out of the parking lot and drove through the streets of the city. Maya was quiet, sitting stiffly in the seat, her face somewhat pinched and a sour expression on her face. He didn't know why she was displeased, but her obvious bad mood was making him feel a bit uncomfortable. He didn't even want to turn on the radio because he had a feeling it would only make everything worse.

They rode that way for quite a while. In total silence. Maya barely having moved a millimeter from her original position. He was already approaching Nighthawk Diner and nothing had been said.

Lucas sighed in exasperation. "Are you still mad at me?"

"Still implies there was a time I wasn't mad." She said almost robotically, staring out the window at the passing city.

"Maya."

She looked at him, a slight look of surprise on her face from his tone.

"I never realized how long it actually does take to paint sets." He said honestly, feeling remorse and shame. "Even with the two of us working on that one piece, we still didn't finish. I can't begin to imagine how long it must have taken you."

"That's because that particular one was very big." Maya said. "Take a right here."

"Still. It doesn't excuse what happened to all the sets." Lucas replied. "Maya, I'm sorry. Really. From the bottom of my heart."

She was quiet for a little bit, still gazing out of the window. Lucas very briefly glanced at her reflection in the mirror and was surprised to see that there was a small smile gracing her lips.

"Thank you. I appreciate it." she said softly, "Take a left. And then at the stop sign, take a right. The third building is mine."

He followed her directions, driving down and realizing as they made their way closer to their destination that the apartments in this area were a little more rundown and worn. He parked in front of the burgundy apartment complex before cutting off his car. Maya made as if to get out of the car, but Lucas stopped her.

"At least let me walk you to your door."

"I'd rather you didn't." Maya said darkly, scratching her arm uncomfortably, "I don't live in the lap of luxury you know. I wouldn't want to give you ammo to feed your asshole friends."

Lucas frowned, feeling the sharp jab pretty damn acutely.

"Maya, I'm not that kind of guy. I wouldn't tell my friends about your life." He said, offended, "I want to walk you to your door to make sure you get home safely."

She didn't say anything in response, but she also didn't try to hightail it out of the car, and Lucas took that as her acquiescing. He hopped out of the front with his umbrella, going around to the other side and holding it up for Maya so she couldn't get wet. After he'd locked his car, he walked her to the front door of the complex.

"You don't have to bring me up to my apartment door, you know?" Maya muttered as she opened the complex door.

Lucas grinned. "I want to."

They walked into the dingy, musty lobby and Lucas folded his umbrella, shaking out some of the water.

And that's when Lucas heard the loud, disgusting sound of someone violently retching. He turned to the source of the noise and saw a petite blonde woman in the corner, vomiting in one of the potted plants. She was wearing a neon crop top, tight leather shorts that barely covered her tush, some knee high boots and was clutching a bottle of tequila in one hand.

Lucas grimaced in slight disgust, but when he glanced at Maya, he was surprised to see her face had blanched, and she had completely stiffened, her eyes wide and almost frightened.

"M-Mom…?"

 _Mom?_

The woman stumbled around unsteadily, turning around until she was facing them. Her excessive makeup was completely smeared all over her face, most likely soiled by the rain and dripping down her eyes and cheeks. She had vomit dribbling from her chin onto her shirt, but she laughed without a care, her eyes lighting up in recognition.

Lucas knew about Maya's infamous mother only from rumours. They called her the city whore. And his friends talked about how she'd been passed around by so many different men. It was a little strange to see her face to face.

"Hiya babygirl." She slurred, wobbling over to them as she took a swig from her bottle. "Isthat a newclient f'me?"

"No, Mom!" Maya rushed over to her mother, quickly wrapping her arms around her waist to try to keep her from hitting the ground. "Why are you drinking again?! I thought you said that was the last time!"

"But babygiiiirl…" She giggled, leaning heavily onto Maya. "I hadto… Hewas horrible… horrible… violated…"

Lucas could clearly tell that Maya and her mother were on a certain crash course to the ground. Maya was barely her mother's height and with her mom wiggling around like that and squirming, she wasn't helping matters much.

Without a word, Lucas walked over and gently pulled Maya's mom away from Maya, stooping slightly and scooping her up bridal style. She was clearly in no condition to be walking. Maya stared up at him in alarm.

"What are you doing?"

"Maya where do you live?" He ignored her question.

Maya's eyes narrowed slightly, but she started up the stairs with mangled, dirty carpet, taking them two at a time.

"Ohmy…" Maya's mother giggled, her head lolling to the side as Lucas hurried up the stairs, following Maya. "Youa prince? Youhere to saveme?"

She stopped on the third floor and brought him to a brown door with chipping paint. With fumbling hands, Maya slipped her key in the lock and finally unlocked it and pushed the door open.

"Gammy! Mom was drinking again!" Maya called out as soon as she rushed in, Lucas in tow carrying her babbling mother.

The old lady wearing wide rimmed, round glasses, sitting on a puke green wicker rocking chair, almost immediately stood up, looking a bit rattled.

"Oh dear." Gammy Hart tsked, "Put her on the couch, son."

Lucas brought Maya's mother over to frayed sofa, laying her carefully down as she groaned tiredly. Gammy pried the bottle from her hand before sitting next to her and smoothing her wet bangs back off her forehead.

"Katy. What happened?" Gammy Hart scolded angrily. "I thought you said you were going to stop!"

"One customer…" Katy groaned, her voice wavering. Lucas realized in shock that she was crying, her eyes red and tears dropping from her cheeks as her body trembled from her impending sobs. "I jussfelt so dirty afterit… I needto drink… And youdon't let mekeepalcohol in the house, Mom…"

"Honey, I know it's hard, but you're getting drunk all the time now. Think about Maya!"

"Urgh…gonnathrow up…"

Maya ran to the kitchen, grabbing a bucket before quickly bringing it over to her mother. Without so much of a gag, Katy leaned over the side and puked in it, the garbled sound of liquid and partial solids hitting the sides cringeworthy and sending a slight shudder down Lucas' back.

Lucas didn't really know what to do and stood there, staring at the whole spectacle, a bit appalled by the whole thing. He felt like he was watching a movie, despite the fact that he was standing there live and in person and witnessing the scene with his very own eyes.

And it was then that he looked around the room. The old, tacky cuckoo clock hanging on the wall. The easel near the window. The quilt draped over the sofa. The torn, aged chairs and splintered wooden furniture. The scratches all over the hardwood floor. It was noisy, the clattering of the poor heating and air conditioning system providing constant background music to the whole event. The room smelled pleasantly of vanilla though, and it was a little ironic, seeing as how the rest of the room was in a fairly poor state and considering the atrocious scene that had played out.

And then Maya was suddenly in front of him, her watery eyes looking irritated.

"You can go home now, Huckleberry."

Lucas wasn't given a chance to respond before Maya planted her hands on his abdomen and forced him backwards. Lucas stumbled backwards, not able to fight against her more out of stupefied shock from the scene he had seen than anything.

"I think you've seen quite enough." Maya growled, pushing him out of the door and into the hallway. "So get out."

Lucas stared down at her in alarm, surprised by how cold Maya had suddenly become. Her eyes, though watery from impending tears, were frigid and chilling, no warmth in them whatsoever as she stared up at him.

"I-Is there anything else I can do to help?" he asked stupidly, once he found his voice.

"No."

And she slammed the apartment door in his face.

Lucas stood there for a few moments, shocked and confused and still trying to wrap his mind around what he had seen.

Was this Maya's life?


	6. Chapter 5

**Okay, this chapter is a bit more _filler-y_ because I cut it off for reasons. Bear with me ahahah, I woke up too early and now I'm reeling from fatigue. I didn't want to rush the next bit after this so I decided to only publish this chunk :3  
**

 **Awww you guys are so sweet! Thank you for the reviews and the kind words! It really means a lot to me, and I'm happy you guys are enjoying the story! Thank you so much all of you for your support! It warms my heart and I am glad you are giving this story a chance! :)  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.**

* * *

"So what are you doing after school today?" Jennifer asked Lucas, leaning close to him to the point where all he could smell was her sharp perfume.

It was burning his eyes.

"I have to volunteer today at the hospital." Lucas said, fighting the urge to wince.

"Oh…" Jennifer grinned even wider. "Well, I found this perfect spot in the city. It's super private and has gorgeous scenery and stuff. Zay told me you like to look at the stars. Wanna check it out right now?"

She was very obviously propositioning him. He could tell from the way she was smiling coquettishly, leaning into him and looking up at him through her eyelashes. Had anyone ever told her that she was trying too hard? He felt a little bad for her if he was going to be perfectly honest. The entire school probably knew she was trying to bag him. It made her look pretty pathetic if you asked him.

It wasn't a particularly nice thing to think. But then again, Lucas wasn't in a very nice mood.

He was worried about Maya.

He hadn't seen her at school all day, and it seemed like she skipped lunch. He usually saw her at least once before lunch and a couple times afterward as she roamed the halls to her classes. He just wanted to make sure everything had been okay, but he got the distinct feeling that Maya was avoiding him on purpose and that only served to irritate him. What had he even done that was so bad?

Quite frankly, he thought she would have _thanked_ him for helping her mother.

"Maybe some other time. Besides, it's the middle of the school day." Lucas said, moving away from her when he couldn't take the disgusting scent anymore.

He ignored the pinched look of annoyance on her face as he walked over to where Zay was rummaging through his locker.

"Dude, you're missing out on a great rack, you know?" Zay said as he watched him approach, "Mitch says she's a good one. What's stopping you?"

"Seriously?" Lucas rolled his eyes. "What is up with you guys trying to get me to hook up with Jennifer?

"We just think you need to get laid. With this whole you getting in trouble thing, we think you need to loosen up. A lot. You're seriously uptight."

Lucas let out an annoyed sigh, getting ready to tell Zay that he did not, in fact, need to get laid and that he was perfectly fine with listening to music as a détente from the current difficulties and struggles in his life. And even if he did choose to get laid, it would definitely not be with Jennifer, who'd probably been passed around between more guys than the amount of men in the city Brandon liked to say Maya's mother had been passed between.

A flash of blonde hair caught his peripheral and Lucas turned his head, looking in that direction. He saw Maya, on her way to turning the corner of the hallway leading to the basement. She was carrying a fairly large box. It looked heavy. Even he could tell from his position next to the lockers, quite a distance away, that she was struggling to carry it. Yet, no students would stop to help her and she trudged on, her small arms straining to clutch onto the box. She briefly paused as she tried to go past a group of conversing students blocking her path, her mouth moving as she said something to them. They glanced at her, but no one moved at all, and then Lucas watched as Maya continued on anyway, ramming the box into someone and then trampling on another's toes, bulldozing her way straight through them and not giving a damn at their appalled looks.

Lucas cracked a smile at that, chuckling slightly to himself at her actions.

"Lucas. Yo, Lucas? You all there, man?" Zay asked, waving his hand in front of Lucas face.

"Yeah… uh, see you later?"

Lucas walked away from his confused friend, hurrying down the hall and turning the corner to go down the corridor Maya was headed. He saw her small form labouring on, her ponytail swishing behind her in reckless abandon.

He fell into step beside her, smiling slightly when she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

She didn't smile back.

"Hey… You want me to carry that for you?"

"I don't need your help."

It was clearly a lie. She was having some difficulty lugging the box.

"Okay…" Lucas rubbed the back of his neck, feeling somewhat awkward and put off by her sharp reply. "Uh… Was everything okay with your mom? You know, after I left?"

Maya glared at him, her eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Is your mom okay?"

"She's fine." Maya snapped. "Butt out. It's none of your business."

Lucas was taken aback by her obvious bad mood and his brows furrowed, feeling a spike of irritation at her words.

"Look, I'm just trying to be nice." He scoffed. "Do you always have to bite my head off when I talk to you?"

"I'm not a charity case, Huckleberry. I don't need your 'pity' or your 'niceness'."

Lucas frowned, staring down at her incredulously, really feeling irritated by her now. She was really cranky and clearly pissed off about something. Was she taking her anger out on him or something?

"What's with the extra dose of bitchiness today? I literally just wanted to know if your mom was alright, and now I'm getting chewed out for caring?"

"I said it was none of your business. Maybe I don't want to share my life with you. Did you ever think about that?" Maya growled. "But no. Mr. Perfect here thinks that he's entitled to knowing everything about everyone. And all of a sudden, _I'm_ a bitch because I like to keep my private life just that: _private_."

It stunned him into silence to the point where he stopped walking, staring after Maya in shock as she continued to slowly make her way towards the basement steps. It surprised him to see her this way. Sure, Lucas realized that she was incredibly closed off by nature and always had her guard up, but he had been hoping that she might loosen hers up a bit around him. Maybe they weren't friends per se, but he thought maybe she'd let him in a little bit after what he'd seen. He didn't think there was anything particularly wrong with updating him on her mother's condition, but clearly, she had some issues with trust.

With a sigh, Lucas caught up to her.

"I'm sorry for overstepping."

"You've got one more thing to apologize for too, Hopalong."

Lucas' eyebrow twitched at the nickname, and his jaw clenched. "Fine. So maybe you're not being a bitch for wanting your life to be private, but you _are_ taking out your anger on me for no reason, and that is bitchy. So I'm not apologizing. And for the record, I wasn't pitying you. I was genuinely concerned. What did I even do in the first place for you to be mad at me?"

Maya stared at him for a moment, not particularly emoting anything on her face. And then she sighed, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"I'm not mad at you."

"So you just snap at me for shits and giggles because it's that easy."

"Look Huckleberry." Maya said sharply, "I have a headache, and I'm tired. I just don't want to deal with anybody's shit right now."

Lucas could hear the fatigue in her voice. He glanced down at her and realized she was favouring her right side, grimacing and limping a bit. She was breathing a little hard, and Lucas could easily see the bags under her eyes. Where was all this stubbornness coming from when she was clearly in pain? He'd offered to help her, but she had refused when clearly she needed it.

Without a word, Lucas came around in front of her and reached down to take the box from her arms, ignoring her indignant _hey!_. But Maya had a better grip on it than he thought, and she pulled back, tugging it slightly away from him. Lucas held on, staring her down, clearly noting the challenge in her eyes.

"Maya." Lucas said slowly through grit teeth, leaning down with narrowed eyes, "You're in pain. Just let me get this for you."

"I don't need your—"

"I don't care. Give me the box."

Maya snarled up at him, her lips curled in disgust. "Hey hotshot. I'm not some damsel in distress who needs Prince Charming to swoop in and save her ass, you know? Now let go before I kick you where it hurts."

Lucas shifted his grip, his hands covering and supporting her slightly shaking wrists.

"Maya, you're trembling from the effort." Lucas said incredulously, "Just give me the box. If you don't want to think about it as me helping you, then think about it as me owing you a favour for ruining the sets."

Maya averted her gaze to the ground with a low growl of annoyance before finally nodding.

"Fine."

"See? Was that so hard?"

She narrowed her eyes at him before transferring the box into his hands. Once she'd made sure he had a steady hold, she pulled her wrists out from under his grasp. And then she briefly winced, lifting up her right arm and staring at it. There was a small, fresh, blotchy red bruise on the skin of her wrist.

"Ouch. That looks like it hurts. Sorry." Lucas apologized. "Did I do that when I took the box?"

"N-no…" Maya swallowed thickly. "It's no big deal. Don't worry about it."

But the more he watched her, the more he was starting to notice that she looked a little _off._ Her shoulders were slumped and her breathing was a little ragged, like she just couldn't catch her breath. Even her face was kind of pale. She just looked exhausted. What was going on with her?

"Maya?" He asked in concern, taking a small step closer to her, "You okay?"

"I'm fine." Maya said in a small voice, staring at the ground. "I-I just need to go to the nurse to lie down."

"Okay…" Lucas was unconvinced. "Where do you want me to put this?"

"The art room. Can you tell Ms. Kossal I'm in the nurse's office and can't be in class today?" Maya turned around, walking in the opposite direction, slightly limping as she kept most of her weight off of her right leg. "We have the tutoring program at the hospital today. I'll see you after school, okay?"

Lucas stared at her, confused by the interaction they'd just had.

What was up with Maya?

~.~.~

As soon as the bell let out for the last period of classes, Lucas shot out of his seat, leaving class and heading straight towards the nurse's office instead of his usual route to the lockers where his friends would typically hang out after school. He tried to tell himself it was just because he was planning on giving Maya a ride to the tutoring program, but truth be told, he had been worried about her the rest of the day, wondering if she had gotten enough rest in the nurse's office. He just wanted to check up on her and see if she was okay. He didn't know why, but he _really_ wanted to make sure she was alright. He suspected part of it might have had to do with what he had seen of her home life, but another part of him told him it was something else, though he couldn't pinpoint what.

As he approached the nurse's office, he heard someone giggling inside and knocked before pushing the door open.

"Maya? You there?"

The occupants of the room turned and stared at him as he walked in.

It wasn't Maya.

It was Farkle and Riley, sitting in chairs beside an empty cot with ruffled blankets. As soon as he made eye contact with them, Farkle bristled, his expression darkening. Riley's smile dropped from her lips, her face twisting into an uneasy expression. She slipped her hand into Farkle's, giving him a gentle squeeze.

"Maya went to the bathroom." Farkle said through clenched teeth, "What do you want?"

"I was… just going to ask her if she was feeling better." Lucas said, a little put off by the blatant animosity from him.

Neither Farkle nor Riley responded, still staring at him like he was intruding somewhere he was unwanted. Lucas stood there awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck and feeling completely uncomfortable. Lucas knew there were people in the school who didn't like him, and even though he expected it, it still didn't make it any less surprising to be on the receiving end of such unabashed distaste. People usually kept it hidden for the most part. But he could literally feel the waves of displeasure towards him.

And he didn't blame them.

Not after what they'd gone through that Monday. He hadn't seen them in the cafeteria any other days after that fiasco.

And he knew what he had to do.

"Farkle…" Lucas started, dropping his arm by his side.

Farkle's eyes narrowed suspiciously, his guard clearly fully in place.

"What?"

"…I wanted to apologize." Lucas said, "I'm sorry about Monday. I was angry about something, and I took it out on you, and I shouldn't have. You didn't deserve what the guys did to you."

He turned to Riley. "And you didn't deserve to get harassed by Brandon either."

They stared at him silently, the bewilderment on their faces clearly visible. Lucas could see Farkle was still eyeing him warily, but there was a muted curiosity that had slithered its way into his gaze.

"You can accept his apology, Farks." Lucas heard Maya say from somewhere behind him. "He's being sincere."

Lucas turned around in surprise, not having expected her to be behind him. How long had she been standing there?

Maya was leaning against the door frame wearing a small, pleased smirk on her lips as she stared up at Lucas. Lucas was relieved to see that Maya looked a lot better than earlier that afternoon. She no longer looked as fatigued as she had been, and she was no longer pale.

"Maya."

"Looks like you might not be a total asshole after all."

She straightened and went further inside the room, walking over to where Farkle and Riley were sitting beside the bed.

"C'mon guys. He can give us all a ride to the hospital so we don't have to take the subway."

Riley's brows furrowed. "Maya… are you sure that's a good idea?"

Maya leaned down, softly patting Riley's cheeks.

"Riley, it's a _free_ car ride and my joints are still sore. Even if you guys don't feel like it, I'd rather have a more comfortable seat that won't chafe."

Riley hesitated, staring at the ground and chewing on her lower lip anxiously. Farkle was giving Maya an incredulous look.

"Maya, I'm sorry, but I'd rather not." Farkle said, outright glaring at Lucas, "Plus who cares if he apologized? It's not like he's going to change or anything. He's still part of _them._ He's just going to do the same shit again."

Lucas sighed, expecting this kind of backlash. Honestly, he got a lot of flak for the people he hung out with. Granted, his friends weren't exactly the nicest people or most morally inclined a lot of times, but Lucas wasn't his friends. And for some reason, everyone always saw him as such.

Maya had done that to an extreme when they'd first spoken on Monday, ranting at him and taking out her frustrations on him because of what his friends did. Lucas knew he wasn't the best guy, and he'd done his fair share of terrible things, but he wouldn't lie. He was really starting to get fed up with everybody seeing him as this delinquent who was just as bad as some of the worst guys in his group of friends. Yes, he'd made mistakes, but he was nowhere near as bad as Brandon and Mitch and some of the guys. He wasn't the same as them.

 _"I can see plain as day, you want out."_

Maybe Janitor Harley had been right. Maybe he really did want out.

"You know, I get it. I get you hating me because of my friends. I know how they behave most of the time. But I'm _not_ my friends." Lucas said indignantly, and all three turned their gazes to him. He was addressing all three of them, but his gaze was locked with Maya's. "I get you hating me because I was an asshole to you, but you hating me because of who I hang out with makes you no better than Brandon who bullies people who are in _your_ friend group just because of association."

Riley inhaled sharply, her eyes widening the slightest bit as she passed a poignant look at Farkle. Farkle's expression was still closed off, though Lucas did note his scowl loosened.

"Look, I'm not asking you to forgive me. I know I was wrong." Lucas finished, "I just wanted to apologize for Monday. It shouldn't have happened. That's all I wanted to say. Sorry for bothering you."

He turned around and left the nurse's office, hoping that his apology got through to them at the very least, though he doubted they would be accepting it any time soon. But he'd said what he needed to. He'd made an effort to make amends, and even though he knew it would probably be a while before he gained any trust from anyone he'd hurt, he knew he'd made a step in the right direction.

And it did feel a little good, knowing that he was taking steps to make things right.

But he had no time to think about that at the moment. He had to get to the hospital for the tutoring. It wouldn't do to be late on his very first day.

"Lucas."

With a start, he almost did a double take when he realized Maya had come up beside him. He hadn't even seen her or heard her approach.

And then he blinked at her in shock when he realized _what_ she had just said.

Lucas stopped in the middle of the emptying hallway, just staring down at her. Maya was looking up at him with a slightly raised brow, her lips quirked up in a small smile.

"You called me Lucas." He said, honestly surprised.

"That's because I have more respect for you now."

"…Good to know…" Lucas said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"I mean it." Maya responded, regarding him seriously. "You did right, you know? And it takes a lot of courage to apologize to someone sincerely. Not many people do that these days."

Lucas didn't know how to respond, a little taken aback by her obvious appraisal. He searched the beautiful, stormy blue-grays, only finding sincerity and a sort of admiration hidden in the depths of her gaze. The praise surprised him. It was only yesterday (and really the day before that too) that she had told him straight to his face that she did not like him.

"And you're right." Maya continued, momentarily dropping her gaze to the ground, something like shame in her expression, "You _aren't_ your friends. And it's not fair that you keep getting pegged like them. So I'm sorry. Because I know I did that to you. More than once."

Lucas stared at her, wondering if this really was the same Maya Hart from this week who had all but sunk her claws into his face. Before he could overthink it, Lucas stepped closer to her, leaning down the slightest bit and gently resting his hand on her forehead.

"Where's Maya Hart, and what have you done with her?" He joked. "You aren't sick, are you?"

He had only been playing around, teasing a little bit, but Maya remained silent, her cheeks slowly flushing red with a blush. Her usually harsh expression had softened, becoming warm and almost bashful. Lucas' playful grin slowly fell from his face as he stared down at her, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. Her eyes were mesmerizing, and Lucas found he couldn't tear his gaze away from her.

"Maya…" he said softly, "You're blushing."

Eyes widening the slightest bit, she took a wide step back from him, flustered and almost nervous and eyes darting around, looking anywhere but him before she finally settled on a frown and glowered up at him. She looked embarrassed. Lucas found it pretty amusing.

She was cute.

"Be quiet. Anyway, Farkle and Riley said they'll come with us. I have to see Ms. Kossal really quickly." Maya said, already spinning around and hurrying off, "Wait in the parking lot for us, okay?"

"Okay…"

He didn't know why, but as he watched Maya scurry away, her ponytail whipping side by side, he couldn't help the small smile that came on his face.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Garsh this story can get kind of hard to write sometimes.  
**

 **Thank you for all the kind reviews! You guys are so sweet! I really appreciate the reviews and I'm glad you all are enjoying the story! :)  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.**

* * *

"Do the variables make a little bit more sense now?" Lucas asked Alex, pointing to the problem in the textbook.

Alex nodded slowly as a long yawn left his lips. A nurse walked over to where they were sitting at one of the plastic kiddie table with a smile.

"Alright, Mr. Friar." She said. "It's about time for this little cat to go have his dinner. Say thank you to Lucas, Alex."

"Thank you, Lucas." The young boy said with a sleepy smile.

"No problem." Lucas said, "See you next week?"

"Yeah."

As Alex left with the nurse, Lucas stood up and stretched languidly, his joints popping and bones cracking satisfyingly after being subjected to sitting in that tiny chair for so very long. He groaned, cracking his neck and flexing his fingers as he gathered his tutoring materials and put them back in his bag.

When he checked his watch, he saw that it was just about a quarter after eight, fifteen minutes after the end of the tutoring program. He'd done his five hours that day, tutoring a bunch of the kids in the hospital for hour long sessions.

He ran a hand through his hair, watching as various nurses were wheeling kids and guiding them back to their rooms for the evening.

"Lucas." Riley said, walking over to him. "Farkle and I are heading out. Can you please find Maya and give her a ride back home?"

"Uh, sure. Do you know where she went?"

Maya had disappeared a while ago without a word. He had found out from one of the nurses that Maya was well known by and very popular with several kids in this wing and that she usually made her rounds to particular kids who could not leave their beds yet, visiting them all and speaking to them to catch up on their lives.

"She's probably in Nadia's room by this time." Riley answered, "She's usually the last room Maya goes to."

"Nadia?"

"Room 512." Riley said. Then she smiled. "Also, thank you for the apology earlier, Lucas. Farkle and I both appreciate them, even if it doesn't seem like it."

She gave him a slight wave before turning around to skip back over to where Farkle was standing at a distance. He was still warily watching Lucas, his eyes narrowed in slight distaste. Riley leaned up and gave Farkle a soft peck to his lips before waving at Lucas again and taking Farkle's hand as they left.

Lucas figured it would be a while before Farkle would ever trust him, but it was a work in progress. And though he hadn't said a word to him the rest of the time, at least he'd accepted the ride to the hospital. That had to mean something in some way.

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he walked through the hall, smiling at a couple pediatricians and nurses who were walking around with their clipboards. He read off the numbers on the hospital rooms as he passed them.

As he approached the open door of Room 512, he heard the tinkling laughter of a young girl followed by Maya's distinct, slightly deep drawl. He walked in the doorway curiously, his eyes searching for the pint-sized blonde.

Maya was standing in front of the window, painting a bunch of small, adorable animals with a small set of kiddie paints.

"You'll get in trouble if you do that, Maya!" The young girl in the bed—Nadia, Lucas figured—giggled.

"I'm always in trouble with these nurses and doctors anyway. Might as well, right? Plus at least now you have some buddies to talk to at night."

Lucas snorted slightly in amusement, shaking his head in mirth at Maya's antics. Nadia turned her head at the sudden noise, and she stared at him in confusion, her eyes slowly widening as her jaw dropped.

"Whoa…" Nadia said slowly, blinking at Lucas with a bright gleam in her eyes, "Maya, princes don't exist, right?"

"They exist if you want them to." Maya replied, her back still to the door as she put the finishing touches of a fuzzy tail on an angry cat.

"…I think Prince Charming just showed up."

Maya paused in her brush stroke, stiffening the slightest bit before she turned around in slight alarm. When she saw Lucas in the doorway, her face settled into a scowl. But it only made Lucas even more amused.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you. It's past eight." Lucas said, memorizing the slightly flustered look on Maya's face. He had a feeling it wasn't something that he would get a chance to see often. "Farkle and Riley left. You need a ride home?"

"I guess…" But Maya still looked embarrassed and flushed.

"Maya, your boyfriend is cute!" Nadia exclaimed, smiling widely, "How come you didn't tell me you had one?!"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Maya snapped her paint set shut and shoved it in her bag, walking over to Lucas and turning him around, trying to push him out of the room. No doubt she was trying to hide the blush that Lucas could see burning on her cheeks. "Get out, Lucas! I'll meet you in the lobby."

"Why?" Lucas spun around with an amused smile, out of the way of her hands. Maya stared up at him in annoyance before turning around resolutely and facing Nadia. He could see the back of her neck was flushed. Maya was so cute. "We can walk down together."

"Maya, introduce me to the prince!" Nadia said, her amber eyes dancing in excitement.

"He's the farthest thing from one."

"Maaaaaayaaaaaaa." she whined, "Please?"

"Fine." Maya gestured behind her. "This is Lucas Friar. A guy who looks like a prince, but in reality, is the villain. Someone like Gaston or Jafar, Nadia."

"Ouch. That's a little harsh." Lucas said, "I don't think I'm that bad."

"You are." Maya said, still refusing to look at him.

Nadia laughed gleefully. "Well I'm Nadia Atallah. I'm seven and three quarters years old."

"Nice to meet you, Nadia." Lucas smiled.

"You wanna know why I'm in the hospital, Mr. Prince?" Nadia continued, "I have leukemia. I've had it for two years, and I'm pretty sure it's terminal at this point."

Maya's gaze snapped to hers angrily.

"Nadia. Stop that. You're going to beat the cancer, and you're going to get out of here and get to enjoy an actual high school one day and experience prom and homecoming, do you hear me?"

"Alright, _Mom_."

Maya rolled her eyes. "I'll see you next week?"

"Bye, Maya." Nadia waved at them both with a wide beam on her face. "Bye Prince Charming! Come visit me again soon, _please_. The doctors are all old farts, and there's no eye candy to look at."

"I'll do just that."

Maya spun him around and forced him out of the room.

"She's sweet."

"Yeah." Maya had a small smile on her face.

They headed back down the hallway to leave, Maya walking briskly as if she couldn't wait to get away from him. But her pace was no match for Lucas' long legs and he easily matched her speed, waiting for her to finally address him.

He didn't get Maya.

She was an absolute enigma.

Sometimes she was friendly and it kind of scared him, and then in a matter of seconds, she was closed off and guarded and treated him like scum. It was hard to tell what she thought of him.

And he kind of wanted to know.

Plus, he wanted to get to know her a little better. If they had to spend so much time together, it made sense to him that he should know a bit more about who Maya Hart was.

"Hey." He finally said when they were heading down in the elevator, and she still hadn't said another word. She was staring at the red digital numbers above the door of the elevator showing the floor. "Do you, uh… do you want to go grab some ice cream or something."

Maya's gaze went to his, and she rose a brow. "Ice cream in this almost cold weather, Huckleberry?"

"Or late night milkshakes. I don't care. I don't really feel like going home yet. You?"

Her lips pursed momentarily as she stared at him, looking like she was trying to figure something out.

"Why do you want to get milkshakes with me?" Maya questioned, stepping off the elevator when it stopped at the lobby. "If you don't want to go home, why don't you hang out with your friends?"

"I don't really feel like hanging out with them right now."

Honestly, he knew if he hit up any of them, the bulk of the activities would be drinking or smoking, and Lucas just wanted to relax. Maya wasn't exactly _nice_ to him most of the time, but she had a calming presence. He didn't know what it was about her, but oddly enough, she was kind of a comforting person. Maybe a little warm if he _really_ stretched. Like _really_. But he knew he wanted to spend more time with her.

Maya's expression was carefully blank as she contemplated him. He couldn't tell at all what was going through her mind, but it looked like she was considering something important. He could see the gears turning in her head.

"Let's go to Nighthawk Diner." She finally said.

"Okay…"

She started walking towards the doors, heading out to the parking lot. When Lucas stared at her for a moment in slight surprise that she had agreed, Maya glanced at him over her shoulder.

"C'mon Ranger Rick. Before I change my mind."

He hurried to catch up with her.

~.~.~

Lucas had driven past Nighthawk Diner before and knew the place was fashioned kind of like 90s diner with the red booths and the uniformed waitresses. But he'd never actually been in there before. It was pretty nice. Tastefully decorated with some great 90s rock tracks playing in the background.

Thankfully, it hadn't been crowded when they arrived despite it being around the time of dinner, and they'd been able to grab a booth and order their milkshakes. Lucas stared at the intricate tiles of the table, wondering why Maya looked so calculating though. She was watching him carefully, clearly trying to figure something out and truth be told, being under her scrutiny like that was making him particularly nervous. She didn't seem to be judging him, but it was like she was _waiting_. As if she was waiting for something and Lucas was a little confused as to what that could possibly be.

"So do you come here often?" he asked, trying to get her to move her attention to something else.

"Yeah."

"Oh."

She leaned back against her seat, still eyeing him curiously, and after a few more moments of that silence, Lucas sighed and looked at Maya.

"Okay, so why are you staring me?"

"No particular reason."

Lucas smirked. "Alright then. I'm just going to assume it's because you like the way I look."

"You're average at best, Huckleberry." she said dryly, "Don't get a big head."

Lucas frowned, a bit offended by her statement. He wasn't vain by any means, but it wasn't like he wasn't aware of his appearance. And it wasn't like he wanted Maya drooling over him or anything, but he couldn't lie. Hearing her dismiss him as average stung a bit.

"Ouch. That's…"

He tapered off as a waitress holding their stuff walked over to them with a smile on her face. A waitress he recognized as Katy. The same Katy that had been dressed provocatively and vomiting chunks. Without the outlandish makeup, she looked a lot younger, her complexion much more bright and cheery. The transformation and difference between the two was so crazy that he had to take a quick glance at her nametag to make sure that it was indeed Katy Hart. And it was.

Katy stopped by their table and set their milkshakes in front of them along with a plate of fries that Lucas didn't remember either of them ordering.

She winked at Lucas when he stared up at her in confusion.

"It's all on me. As thanks."

Then Katy leaned over and kissed Maya's forehead gently.

"Is he your new friend, baby girl?"

"Haven't decided." Maya muttered, picking up a fry and dipping it in her milkshake before popping it in her mouth.

"Alright. Let me know if y'all two need anything else."

Lucas stared after Katy as she walked away, almost completely baffled. He could have sworn from what she had been saying the night before that she was with a client. Wouldn't that make her a hooker? But here she was a waitress. When he brought his gaze back to Maya, she was carefully gauging his reaction, chewing nonchalantly on a fry as she waited for him to return his attention to her.

"That's your mother." He said simply, not really sure what to say.

Maya nodded, swallowing her fry before grabbing another one. "She's a waitress here too."

"Right."

Lucas didn't really know quite what to say and took a sip of his milkshake, suddenly feeling the air grow a little awkward between them. He didn't know how to describe it. It wasn't that he felt uncomfortable. It was just that he wasn't sure how to address or bring up the obvious discrepancy in what he knew.

"Do you know why I told you to bring me here?" Maya finally said, fixing Lucas with a poignant look.

"Not really."

She didn't respond for a while, quietly munching on the fries, each time dipping them inside of her milkshake. Lucas waited patiently for her to elaborate on why she had brought up that point in the first place but she kept silent.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, thinking Maya wasn't planning on answering any longer.

"…Because I think I trust you."

He almost didn't catch what she said, it had been so quiet. But his mind was determining whether it was 'I trust you' or 'I have a crush on you' and he figured it was not the latter.

"Trust me?" he asked, almost incredulously, taking a sip of his milkshake.

"No one at school knows my mother is a waitress here. I intend to keep it that way so she doesn't get harassed. And you saw her after her side job, wasted and at her absolute worst. You haven't said anything to anyone about where I live as far as I can tell."

Lucas nodded. "What's her—"

"She's a call girl, Lucas." Maya spat. "A hooker. A prostitute. I'm sure you already know since your friends can't seem to get enough of that joke."

"I'm—"

"What? Sorry?" Maya bristled, her body stiff and eyes automatically guarded. "Stop it. What the hell does your sorry mean to me?"

"First of all, stop cutting me off." Lucas said crossly, "Second, I wasn't going to say I'm sorry. Stop being so defensive. I was going to tell you I'm not my friends. And that I don't poke fun at people's lives because they are not jokes."

Maya looked back down at her milkshake, spinning the straw around slowly.

"Oh." She glanced up at Lucas. "Sorry. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

"Understandable, considering you don't like me. You expect the worst." Lucas said with a slight roll of his eyes, "If you don't mind me asking, why is her side job as a call girl? Aren't there a number of other jobs she could take instead?"

Maya stared at him silently for several long moments, no particular expression on her face. Yet Lucas could easily see the apprehension in her eyes. A deep melancholy, so engraved in her eyes that he wondered if she'd lived her whole life with it. And there was something like fear in the midst of all that. He stiffened, realizing that whatever Maya was keeping a secret, was affecting her life negatively. And he couldn't help but grow a little scared as to what that could possibly be.

"You're a strange guy, Lucas. I can't figure you out. You act like an asshole, your friends are assholes, but I know deep down you're not one." Maya said softly, "You could be a really great guy. But I don't know if I want to let you into my life."

There was a slight shine to Maya's eyes. A slight shine that told Lucas Maya was conflicted. She was frightened. Of what, he wasn't certain, but he knew that she was terrified. And though he was finding that he honestly wanted to know what was behind that fear, he knew that she wasn't ready to tell him, nor was she comfortable. And he had to respect that wish of hers.

"How about this. Baby steps." Lucas said, "You let me into your life little by little how you see fit and as time goes on, you can determine if you think I'm worth keeping in your life. In turn, I'll let you into mine. Equivalent exchange. That way, you're getting something out of letting me learn more about you and it will be like payment as opposed to me forcing my way into your life. Fair?"

"…Yeah."

Lucas lifted up his milkshake glass, tilting it slightly with a smirk on his face.

"To baby steps?"

Maya tried to bite her lower lip to keep the smile from her face, but he could see it plain as day.

"You're such a dork. But," She picked up her glass and held it up with a nod. "To baby steps."

"I think we just made an important step to becoming friends."

Maya rolled her eyes, but clinked her glass against his.

"I still don't like you."

Lucas grinned.

"I know."


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Still slowly working to respond to EVERYTHING :3 I promise I will by Sunday for sure! I'm going to the doctor's today to figure out what's going on with me, so there might not be any updates until Saturday possibly? I'll see how I feel!  
**

 **Thank you for being so sweet and patient with me! You guys are awesome and I'm happy that you are reading this story ahaha! :)  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.**

* * *

As time went on, Lucas developed a rhythm in his life. He went to school, helped Janitor Harley with various tasks and odd jobs around the school, helped Maya paint sets or went to the hospital to tutor, and then he and Maya usually went to Nighthawk Diner and spent time talking.

He learned a lot over time.

He learned about electrical wiring and circuitry, tricks to unclogging sinks and showers with hair along with best cleaning solutions to ensure the destruction of bacteria. And other life hacks and tips on how to get through life. Most people dismissed Harley just because he was the janitor, but having spent more time with him, Lucas began to understand and appreciate a lot of what he did in the school. Plus the guy was an unapologetic, hilarious sarcastic asshole and wise beyond his years.

Hanging out with Maya made him pick up on small things about her.

How strong she truly was mentally. How much pride she had in who she was despite the rough hand she'd been dealt in life. How secure she was in herself. She hated pity of any kind and was the type to reject it vehemently. She carried herself regally, like a queen, unaffected by the foul things around her.

And he admired her for it.

She tried not to focus on all the bad and the rumours and dirty comments and looks that surrounded her at school. She lived her life as she wanted to. And Maya definitely inspired him to want to be a better person. She inspired him to want to break free from the way he used to live and become someone better for himself. And for her.

He learned about other things, like her favourite flavour—pistachio—and her absolute dislike of chocolate of any kind. How she _had to_ wear heels to school every day because she couldn't stand how short she was. She'd had dreams of becoming a supermodel in the future when she was younger, but she quickly realized that was a dream lost when she didn't grow after elementary school ended. He also realized that when he would ask Maya what her new dream for the future was, she would clam up and ignore him for an extended period of time. And she checked out of _any_ conversations regarding college, though he never understood why. He supposed she had decided not to go because maybe she couldn't afford it.

There was something about Maya that Lucas started to notice with each conversation they had, though. Some deep melancholy that seemed to lace her words despite how much she guarded it that told Lucas that there was something in Maya's life that she was hiding. And part of him believed it had to do with the fact that sometimes Maya randomly missed school or some days, she would come to school in bitter moods, gritting her teeth in pain with every step she took. She would get random little bruises and trip on her own two feet, as if she was having trouble walking.

Maya spent most of her time in the nurse's office on those particular days. And those were the days Lucas took measures to ensure he didn't overstep because she was usually in a sour mood. He wouldn't know quite what to say to help her when he was sitting by her bedside, so he would just tell her weird things about Texas and the interesting people he knew. Maya was for the most part unresponsive, staring at him blankly, but when he would adopt a super country accent or talk about some crazy antics that occurred, she would giggle and then try desperately to hide the fact she had by pulling the covers over her face in embarrassment.

Sometimes when they hung out, Farkle would be there, talking about a latest scientific discovery or something technological that Lucas never really understood. Originally, he would clam up when Lucas came and would give him mistrustful looks an scowls of distaste, but he slowly started opening up. Once she got over her initial reservations, Riley was pretty friendly and open and liked to talk about unicorns and sparkles, and he could see why Maya was fond of the girl. She was like happiness personified and seeing as how Maya's life was a little messed up, it was probably a nice change of pace for her.

His absolute favourite pastime was painting with Maya, though. She would concentrate really hard, her expressions serious and nose scrunched up in concentration as she would meticulously paint out the fine details of a design. She was _amazing_ at painting and art, and he could tell she really loved it. She always seemed her happiest with a paintbrush in her hand. When she got that way, he would just stop painting and watch her as she diligently worked, unsure why his heart would start jumping in his chest.

Sometimes he would try to distract her. It usually didn't work, but on a few occasions if he reached over and moved hair out of her face and behind her ear when it was about to end up in the paint, it was always pretty amusing to see her face erupt in a blush. Then she would stare at him incredulously, scrunching up her face in annoyance in that cute way that always made Lucas laugh. Then she would usually huff and try to ignore him for a period of time, but Lucas would keep poking her or tickling her side and it made it near impossible for her to continue.

He learned that she always called him nicknames when she was particularly flustered, but as opposed to the way she used to address him, they were said fondly with what he assumed was something like affection. And he found he relished those nicknames. It made him feel like he was someone special in her life, because as far as he was concerned, the only other people she called nicknames were Farkle and Riley.

It was through occurrences like those that Lucas came to understand Maya in a way. They had this sort of unspoken and innate understanding with each other. She got him. And he liked to think he got her.

And through the semester, he liked to think they slowly became closer friends.

~.~.~

Lucas leaned against the side of his truck, arms crossed as he waited for Maya to show up. They had to head to the hospital for tutoring that day, but she'd told him to wait for her. It would just be him and her that day since Riley had to babysit her brother and Farkle was at a debate tournament. Maya had had to grab the last couple of sets from woodshop and bring them to the art room for them to paint the next day. Lucas had wanted to help her, but she'd refused, telling him she wasn't some damsel in distress who wasn't capable of doing things on her own.

It was really hard to believe that they were almost done with the sets. It had taken them a lot of time and effort and lugging the particularly huge ones up the basement steps to the theatre was a feat in and of itself, but they'd managed. It made him a little melancholic, though.

If he was truly honest with himself, he knew he was going to miss the one on one time he got to spend with Maya.

As he was checking his phone to see the time, Billy's car pulled up beside him. Brandon was leaning out of the passenger window, and Lucas could see a few of his other friends in the backseat.

"Well, well…" Zay said with a smirk from the back, "Look who finally decided to resurface on Earth. Where have ya been?"

"Nowhere. Just doing some stuff." Lucas shrugged, feeling a little apprehensive all of a sudden.

"Hey, we're about to go to the 'bay'. One of Mitch's suppliers got this great new product, if you know what I mean." Brandon said conspiratorially, "You should come with us."

Lucas most certainly did know what he meant. And he definitely wasn't interested.

"Can't." he replied, "I'm on probation. If I get caught I'm going to jail."

"So? Live a little."

"No way."

Brandon rolled his eyes. "Fine. We're all going to head out to my place afterwards to chill. I've got this hot new neighbour chick who leaves her bedroom window open. Whenever she comes out of the shower, I get to see her naked. You showing up or what?"

Lucas checked the school back entrance to see if Maya was coming out. He honestly didn't want to be having this conversation right now.

"Nah, I'm not interested." Lucas shrugged. "Besides, I've got to go to the hospital with Maya."

There was an irate silence as the guys in the car all stared at him. Mitch leaned forward from the backseat, giving Lucas a suspicious glare.

"You know… you've been spending a lot of time with Guttersnipe recently. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you liked her."

Lucas felt a nervous sweat go down his back at the looks on all their faces. Looks he recognized as suspicion mixed with something like disdain. Looks that made him anxious because they were commonly given to those who were not in their social group. Sure, he wanted to separate himself from his acts of delinquency, but he definitely didn't want to lose his friends.

"C'mon." He chuckled a little nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "You know it's just because we volunteer at the same place, and we paint the sets. I have to spend time with her."

"You sure?" Billy said, raising a brow incredulously, "Because you've been ditching us a lot lately."

"Yeah, not cool man." Jackson added.

"I have to finish up my community service." Lucas responded. "And that takes up a lot of my time."

"One day isn't going to set you back." Brandon scoffed, "You're just making excuses."

"I'm being reasonable."

"No. You actually _want_ to hang out with that gangbanging tramp." Brandon asserted, his eyes glinting sharply, a dark irritation lacing his features.

"And what's wrong so with hanging out with her?" Lucas said, growing a bit defensive. He didn't like the way Brandon was addressing her. "She's not that bad."

"Whatever man. It's like you don't even remember who your real friends are." Brandon shot Lucas a dirty glare before turning to Billy. "Let's just go. He's being a little bitch."

Billy drove off, and Lucas stood there, staring off into the distance for a few moments feeling like absolute shit for multiple reasons. He leaned his head back against the window with a groan, conflicted and a bit irritated.

Why were they so difficult sometimes? Sure he hung out with Maya, but it wasn't like it was that big of a deal.

But he couldn't help but feel a bit of trepidation.

He heard the back doors of the school shut and when he glanced behind him, Maya was walking down the steps of the school, her hair flying behind her.

"C'mon, Huckleberry." she said, opening the passenger door and climbing in, "Sorry I took so long, but we need to get a move on."

Lucas opened his door and got in as well, hooking up his seatbelt and starting his car, though he didn't say anything. Maya stared at him in confusion when he didn't respond, pausing midway through buckling her belt. He kept his gaze straight ahead, his jaw partially clenched.

"What's wrong?" Maya asked.

"Nothing."

He knew he had responded a little too brusquely, but he was in something of a bad mood right now, and he wasn't really in the mood to talk. He just wanted to get to the hospital, finish up what he needed to do so that he could leave and go back home.

He expected Maya to ignore him, but instead she leaned over, the scent of peaches filling his car with her motions. To his surprise, she slid her hand gently on his forehead. Her hand was cold on his skin and he jumped in slight alarm, not having been expecting the contact.

"No fever." She adopted a thick, faux country accent, her lips tugging up into a small amused smile. "So what's your excuse for being an asshole, crankypants?"

And he couldn't help it.

He smiled.

How was it that Maya had a habit of making things better when he was in an irritated mood? Her presence really was comforting.

"That's a terrible accent." He snorted, glancing at her with a raised brow. "I don't even sound like that."

"So he _can_ be nice today. I was beginning to wonder if he was going to be in a pissy mood all evening." Maya said contemplatively, taking her hand off of him and settling back in the passenger seat.

"Sorry." He apologized. "I was just thinking about something that made me mad."

"…You know, when I get mad I usually paint to take my mind off of things so I don't try to take it out on people." Maya stated, "What do you do, Lucas?"

"I don't know. Drink? Get in trouble?"

"Hmm… I think we're going to have to find you some new hobbies, Ranger Rick."

He cracked a smile. "Yeah, you're right."

"But we'll figure that out later." Maya said with a soft smile, "Let's get to the hospital."

Lucas grinned as he pulled out of the school.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: I got a little lazy writing some of this chapter and I had to do something wonky with the structure in one part and the dialogue and writing was so cheesy and lame and crappy because I was also kind of half asleep ahaha, so if you're offended by a lack of quality lol I sowwy! I haven't revised yet and I know it's very rough, but blerrrrggggghhhhh... (There are TISSUES EVERYWHERE IN MY ROOM.)  
**

 **Thank you for the kind reviews and for reading the chapter! You all are unbelievably sweet, and I'm lucky to have such wonderful readers. You all are so special to me! Thank you from the bottom of my heart :)  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.**

* * *

"Alright Alex. Do you have any questions?" Lucas asked, shutting his tutoring notebook with a smile.

Alex sighed, his shoulders slumping. He looked really distraught.

"Not really…"

"What's wrong, buddy? You've been sighing all night."

Alex chewed on his lower lip, hesitating as he stared at Lucas. Lucas waited patiently, knowing that the boy had something to say.

"Lucas…?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you get Maya to be your…?" He made a gesture with his hand.

Lucas paused for a moment, confused by his question.

"My…?"

"You know…" Alex said earnestly, lowering his voice to a whisper and leaning closer as if it was a taboo. "Your _girlfriend_."

"Maya's not my girlfriend." Lucas couldn't help but smile at that though. Was that how many of the kids saw him and Maya? "But what brought on this question?"

"I like this older girl. And she's such a lady, and she's so nice. And she's really cute and pretty and her eyes are really pretty and she smiles really beautiful, but I don't know how to tell her." Alex fidgeted in his seat uncomfortably.

Older girl? Unless Alex was referring to one of the nurses or the tutors, none of the children in this particular ward were older than eight.

"Is this someone you see every day?"

Alex nodded. "But she doesn't see me. I leave her candy because she can't get out of bed, but I have to make sure it's at night when she's asleep."

And suddenly Lucas knew exactly who he was talking about.

"So you like Nadia." Lucas playfully ruffled his hair.

"No I don't!" Alex face turned pink. "Well… maybe… I don't know what to do. How do I tell her? Help me, Lucas!"

Lucas glanced to the side, noticing that Nurse Joy was on her way to get Alex to return him to his room.

"Tell you what, Alex. Since we don't have time to discuss this tonight, how about I go talk to her? Slip some hints. See what she thinks of you. I can be your wingman."

"Wingman? What's that? Is that like a bird?"

Lucas chuckled. "No. It just means I'm going to try to help you with Nadia."

"Okay!" he said excitedly, "Can you?"

"Sure, buddy." Lucas smiled.

Nurse Joy approached them with a smile. "Alright guys. Tutor time is up."

"Don't forget to be the birdman!" Alex said as he waved goodnight to Lucas and stood up to follow the nurse back to his room.

Lucas laughed. "I won't."

After he cleaned up his materials and put them in his bag, Lucas stood up and made his way to room 512. He figured Maya would also be there by this time and afterward they could just leave.

When he walked in the room, Nadia was sitting cross legged on top of her blanket poking at a Jello cup atop the little table attached to her bed. It was the first time he'd ever seen Nadia not submerged under her covers. She generally talked like an adult, so he tended to forget she was barely eight and thus he was surprised to notice just how small she really was. He was also a little alarmed to see a smattering of bruises along her legs, not unlike the ones Maya sometimes got on her wrists and arms when she wasn't careful.

There was a Disney movie playing on her TV, and Lucas could see a stack of opened DVDs sitting on the table next to her with many more movies. Had she been watching them for the past hours?

He rapped his knuckles against the door, and she turned to him with a wide, happy grin, seemingly pleased to have something to focus her attention on other than the wet Jello.

"Prince Charming!"

"Hey, sorry to bug you."

"You're not bugging me at all! Are you looking for Maya? She just went to the bathroom."

"I wasn't actually looking for Maya. I came to see you."

Nadia blinked in pleased surprise. "Me? Yay!"

"How have you been?"

"Stuck in a hospital bed with the world's worst food. But look at what Maya got me!" Nadia giggled excitedly, pointing to the stack of DVDs, "She gave me all of her Disney princess movies so I can watch them whenever I want to over and over!"

"You must really like princess movies and fairy tales."

"Yeah. I really love them! They're my favourite stories."

"What's your favourite fairy tale?" Lucas asked, leaning against the doorway in intrigue.

"I like Rapunzel a lot." Nadia glanced out the open window, a smile on her face. "When I first came to the hospital, I had a dream that a prince would come one day and swoop me off my feet and save me from my leukemia and being stuck in this hospital tower all the time… And we would escape into the sunset…"

She turned back to face Lucas and with a start, Lucas realized there was despair running deep in her gaze. A deep, dark melancholy that he would never have expected to find in the eyes of a child, much less a child who hadn't even broken double digits yet.

It was a wretched sadness and bitterness. The kind one only saw in someone who had no more hope.

The kind Lucas knew he kept sensing in Maya's eyes as well.

"Nadia…"

"There's no prince coming to save me." she said with a wistful smile, "And even if he came, he would be too late."

"What do you mean by 'too late'?" Lucas asked in alarm.

"I'm leaving the hospital."

"Leaving?" he asked in confusion, "Leaving as in you're cured?"

As far as Lucas knew, that sounded like a good thing.

But Nadia grimaced, bringing her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them.

"No. Not cured. It means I'm not going to live much longer." Nadia stared at the TV screen, though her eyes were a little hazy, as if she wasn't seeing anything. "I was five when I first came to the hospital and met Maya. I was in remission after six months and then relapsed and came back. They transplanted the bone marrow that had the cancer after my treatment and expected it to go away. It looked good for a while, but then before my sixth birthday, it came back. I've been in the hospital ever since."

Lucas stared at her in shocked speechlessness, having trouble being able to form any real coherent thoughts.

"The chemotherapy kept me alive, but now the leukemia spread too much. I haven't been responding to treatment for a little over three months now." Nadia stared at the Jello, moving the cup around nonchalantly. "When the doctor talked to my parents in the hall, I snuck out of bed and listened in on the conversation. He says I probably only have two months. I'm probably only going to make it to Christmas or so. So my parents are taking me home after Thanksgiving to spend my remaining months surrounded by people I love."

Lucas was thrown completely off guard by her somber words. He could feel her pain as she spoke. That slight tinge to her voice that she'd given up. The complete lack of hope.

"Does… Does Maya know?"

"No. I don't want her to know." Nadia's face dropped, and she swallowed thickly, her eyes a little glassy. "Please don't tell Maya. She's been my big sister since I got admitted in this hospital. I don't want her to get upset right now. She already has her own things to deal with. I don't want to add more pain to that. Plus, I've made peace with it. I've met wonderful people who made me happy, so I don't want to worry Maya."

He could understand her reservations. Lucas knew how attached Maya was to Nadia.

Nadia was wise beyond her years. Despite her age, she definitely was unbelievably mature, and Lucas had nothing but respect for her for being able to handle the news of her leukemia indeed becoming terminal with such grace. The fact that she still smiled despite all the hardships she had come to learn. She'd barely had the chance to grow or even experience much life yet and yet that didn't deter her choosing to enjoy what was left of her life.

It was heartbreaking.

"I understand. I won't say anything to her."

Nadia smiled. "You know, even though she likes to say you're a villain, I think you're a good guy. And I think Maya likes you."

Lucas rose a brow. Just a few days before, Maya had kicked him in the shin for supposedly being an idiot when he'd gotten a paint brush for her from an upper shelf.

"I don't think she does."

"Well, Maya shows affection in _different_ ways. She's a little cautious getting close to people."

"Why is she so guarded?"

"Nope! You're not getting that secret from me." Nadia made a zipper with her fingers and lips and tossed the imaginary key over her shoulder. "But I know one day she'll definitely tell you."

Lucas seriously doubted that. A lot of the questions he had for Maya and the mystery surrounding her life usually ended with her shunning him or giving him dirty looks for a while. And though he thoroughly enjoyed Maya's presence and hanging out with her, Maya—when she was in a mood to tear him down—was quite brutal and could usually get him irritated within seconds.

But Nadia seemed to know a lot of things about Maya that he didn't.

And if she believed it, he supposed he could believe her.

Maybe Maya would tell him.

"You know, Nadia…" Lucas said, "Maybe your Prince Charming hasn't come yet because you've been looking in the wrong place. Prince Charming might be closer than you think."

"Yeah. I think he really is here. He's been sneaking me candy though I don't know when. I just wish I could figure out who it was."

"Tell you what?" Lucas replied. "Don't fall asleep tonight. You'll be in for a nice surprise."

"You know who gave me the candy?"

"I do. Just trust me: you'll want to stay up tonight."

She smiled happily. "Okay! I will."

Lucas felt a finger poke his back and he turned to Maya standing behind him with a grin.

"Hey. I'm hungry. Take me to Nighthawk." She leaned over and peeked in the room. "See you next week, Nadia?"

Nadia nodded, poking at the Jello cup once again. "See you next week, Maya!"

"Goodnight, Nadia."

"Goodnight Prince Charming!"

Lucas and Maya headed out of the room and made their way back through the ward in order to head out.

"So what were you guys talking about?" Maya asked curiously, a slight bounce in her step.

"Nothing. Just how big a crush you have on me."

Maya shot him an annoyed glare and sped up her pace so she was walking ahead of him. Lucas laughed and upped the pace of his steps as well, easily matching her strides to her absolute obvious annoyance.

~.~.~

"You two kids need anything else?" Katy asked, setting down Maya's third plate of fries since they'd gotten to the diner on the table. "I'm off my shift and have to meet a client, so now's your chance if you want something else for free."

"I think I'm good, thanks." Lucas said.

Katy nodded, gingerly running a hand through Maya's hair. "I'll see you at home, okay baby girl?"

"Please don't buy alcohol, Mom." Maya looked fairly unhappy. "Gammy is worried about you. And so am I."

Katy gave her a thin, barely there smile, one that didn't quite reach her eyes and also one that Lucas knew meant that whatever came out of her mouth next would be a lie.

"I won't, baby girl." Then she glanced at Lucas briefly. "Get her home safe, okay? It's starting to get cold, and I don't want her getting a fever. They hit her harder than others."

Because she was small? Lucas was a little confused as to what Katy meant by that.

"I will."

As he responded, Maya shot her mother a warning glare, and Katy put her hands up in apology before walking off and leaving the two of them by themselves.

What had that exchange been about?

But Maya's expression grew neutral once again, and she picked up a couple fries eagerly.

"You must really be hungry." He commented. "Two whole plates of fries and a burger, and you're still eating."

"I couldn't eat anything earlier, and I'm _starving_." Maya sighed in happiness as she ate.

"Why didn't you eat earlier?"

"Not didn't." Maya corrected, pointing a fry at him before popping it in her mouth. " _Couldn't_."

He frowned. "Why couldn't you eat?"

She pointedly ignored his question, and Lucas rolled his eyes in exasperation, not understanding how that question could possibly be a secret that he couldn't know. It was a simple question. It wasn't even like he had asked her if eating was a problem.

But Maya was stubborn. If she didn't want to answer something, she wouldn't. What he didn't get was if she wasn't planning on answering any of the confusing things she would always say to him that merited more questioning, why did she bring them up in the first place? Did she just expect him to put the puzzling pieces together on his own without any hints at all?

"You know, you always ask me about stuff, but I feel like I haven't returned the favour as much." Maya finally said after the silence had been drawn out for a while, "I want to know, Lucas. How do you end up getting into so much trouble when clearly you're not really the type of guy to seek it out? I mean, I just don't understand how when you can be such a good person sometimes."

"…I honestly don't know." Lucas said at length, holding her gaze seriously, "Part of me knows it's wrong. The other part of me feels like it's just a part of who I am. It would be easy for me to say that I behave that way because of my friends, but it's not all peer pressure. Some of me really does have a desire to act out."

"You weren't always that way." Maya replied softly, putting down the fry she took a bite of, "The Lucas I remember in third grade before he moved was a sweet kid who cared so much about the people around him. Someone who found an injured bird and nursed it back to health every day until it could fly again."

"He also cried all the time and picked his nose regularly." Lucas said dryly.

Maya snorted with a roll of her eyes.

"That sweet side in you still exists, believe it or not. You just have to find him beneath all that rage bubbling under your skin."

How Maya was able to see that in him when even Lucas himself didn't know what the hell was going on with him anymore really meant more to him than he wanted to admit. When he moved to Texas to live with his father, he slowly got worse, losing himself and even once he was back in New York, nothing changed. They only deteriorated even more. His current track record was a testament to that fact.

But Maya still saw something more in him.

"Maya…"

"When I can't find myself, Lucas, or when I start to feel like I'm getting lost in the tumult and sadness in my life, I sit beside my window and look at the stars. They're comforting. You can't see very many and sometimes I wonder if I'm just looking at satellites, but they're there. And they always will be there for comfort and to bring me back and away from my struggles."

Lucas' eyes widened slightly. "I do too."

"I know you do, Lucas." Maya smiled softly. "You seem like the kind of guy to contemplate life like that. You're not like others."

His heart started racing in his chest, and Lucas stared at Maya, unable to tear his gaze away from her face.

And suddenly, it was like he was seeing Maya in a new light.

Something that made Lucas' heartbeat skip erratically.

"That first day you came to paint the sets—the one where you apologized—you were wondering why I had a shooting star tattoo, right?"

"You heard me?"

Lucas couldn't remember the details of that day very well since it was a pretty long time ago, but he was fairly certain he hadn't inquired about the tattoo very loudly.

"Do you still want to know?"

"Yeah."

Maya unzipped a pocket of her bag and slipped her hand inside before pulling out a folded up, tattered sheet of notebook paper. She slid it across the table to him.

"Read it."

Lucas unfolded the crumpled paper and read the words scribbled by Maya on the page in his mind.

 _I wished upon a shooting star_ _  
Andrea Kennedy_

 _I wished upon a shooting star as I lay alone one night;_  
 _To send me someone wonderful who'd love me all my life,_  
 _Someone really special who would take me as his own;_  
 _Then that shooting star exploded, leaving me in darkness all alone._

 _But, still I kept on wishing as those dying embers faded_  
 _'Cause I had been alone so long, my thoughts on love were jaded._  
 _I really needed someone I could love with all my heart;_  
 _Someone funny, warm and caring, from whom I'd never want to part._

 _Then, suddenly, lo and behold, you came into my life._  
 _You stood by me through sun and rain, now want me as your wife._  
 _So I'll meet you at the altar love and give my heart to you_  
 _The stars will celebrate with us as we both say, "I do!"_

Lucas glanced up at Maya when he was done. She was patiently waiting for his reaction.

"Is this your favourite poem?"

"Not even close. I actually hate it with every fiber of my being."

Lucas frowned in confusion. "So… You got a tattoo representing a poem you hate? What?"

"I believe the speaker is dead and never had the chance to fulfill her wish in real life or she's dreaming, imagining up her happy ending. She'll be in for a rude awakening when she opens her eyes and realizes nothing happened and she's back to wishing." Maya said with an almost sneer, "The poem sounds unbelievably naïve and the speaker seems to wholeheartedly believe that wishing on some star will give her what she's hoping for. She has so much hope for something that isn't even a certainty. It's laughable."

"That's a little morbid." Lucas looked at the words with a frown. "I didn't take it that way, though. The way I see it, this poem might be a little naïve, but it's uplifting. This person never gave up once and in the end, found the love they were truly hoping for. They waited for so long and were finally granted their wish. It wasn't too late for them. It's never too late to have hope. And it's kind of admirable that someone can have so much faith in something that they never give up, despite their struggles."

Maya only rose an opposing brow, picking up a fry with a derisive snort and munching on it.

"So why the tattoo on your neck, if you think the poem is terrible? Kind of contradictory, don't you think?"

"That's the point." Maya said seriously, looking for the first time that evening a little vulnerable. And Lucas knew what she was about to tell him was important. "I hate the poem, I hate that idea of having naïve hope, but I do like the idea of finding someone who would love me all my life. I once thought that maybe one day… I could experience a lifetime of love from someone special…"

"Do you not think that anymore?"

"It's too late…" she muttered.

"What is?"

"It just is, Ranger Rick. Plus I've been left too many times to believe that will ever come true." Maya shrugged, abruptly changing the conversation. "Have you ever been left?"

Maya clearly didn't want to talk about the poem or hope anymore and he didn't know if she would ever bring it up in conversation again. Lucas felt like he'd just been privy to something important about Maya's life and about her in general. But he couldn't lie that it only made her even more of an enigma.

"I wouldn't necessarily say left. My father lives in Texas, though."

"What's the story behind that?" Maya asked, "If you don't mind me asking."

"My father ruined my parent's marriage by cheating on my mom and getting someone else pregnant and then moved to Texas when they separated." Lucas finished off the last of his drink, staring out the window and into the night as he recalled the details. His eyes narrowed angrily. "He took me with him, and it wasn't until I got older that I found out why when they officially got a divorce."

"You acted out."

"I refused to live with him. Refused to stay with that asshole after I learned how much he hurt my mother. Who could do that to his family and then try to behave as if I was his son after he'd destroyed the trust we had in him? He's no father of mine. He tried to control my life, but each day I spent with him in my stepfamily, I got worse and worse. The day he sent me back to live here with my mom I trashed his house and tried to set it on fire. I tried to burn it to the ground. I haven't talked to him in almost six years." Lucas said through grit teeth, "Some people think I'm overreacting about my father, but I can't help it. The very thought of him makes my blood boil. Every time I remember what he did to our family, I just want to tear everything to threads."

"You're not overreacting." Maya asserted with a frown. "Don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. You have every right to be mad. Because you didn't deserve to be treated like that. That anger, that boiling rage from what happened to you, is justifiable. But taking it out on others is not."

"Yeah I know…" Lucas looked down at his slightly shaking hand. "I just can't understand why he would do that!"

"…Some people are just not meant to be parents." Maya replied softly, "My father also ditched us when I was young. Haven't seen or heard from him in thirteen years. He wants nothing to do with us."

" _Thirteen years_?" Lucas' gaze shot to hers incredulously. "What the hell?"

"It doesn't bother me much anymore. If he would rather not be in my life, then that's a clear sign to me that I don't need him."

"But it bothers me!" Lucas growled hotly, pounding his fist on the table with a clatter. He was _furious_. Not just with his own father but with Maya's for abandoning his daughter. "Why the fuck do some fathers abandon their children and ruin their lives like that?! These irresponsible, flaky people are all fine with making children however and whenever they please, but run off and do whatever they want and fuck up our lives with no remorse! And then we're left to grow up with these issues that follow us for the rest of our lives!"

Lucas didn't realize he had been shouting his words, until he stopped talking and noticed some of the patrons of the diner staring at them in silence.

"Lucas…" Maya said.

And Maya set her hand on top of his fist, closing her hand around it and squeezing gently. Her hand was cold and her touch was unexpected, and Lucas inhaled sharply, his gaze shooting to hers in surprise. Maya said nothing, just watching him, her eyes silently telling him that she was with him. That she was supporting him.

That it was okay.

He didn't have to let his rage consume him. He would be okay.

Because she was there.

Lucas felt his anger seep away as he searched Maya's beautiful stormy eyes, conveying nothing, but _everything_ at the same time. His pulse was on fire as Maya's lips curved up into an affectionate smile.

Slowly, his tightly clenched, shaking fist stopped trembling and loosened.

Slowly, he uncurled his fingers.

Slowly, he turned over his hand and held Maya's, enclosing her smaller one in his own.

They said nothing, just held each other's gazes in a slight daze, their breathing steady and even. They didn't even have to say anything. Lucas knew Maya was supporting him. And he was supporting Maya.

It was a perfect moment.

Until a waitress came by to pick up the used dishes and glasses.

Maya's eyes widened suddenly and she snatched her hand out of Lucas' with a soft gasp, clearly snapping out of whatever trance she'd fallen in.

"Look at the time." she suddenly said, grabbing her poem from the table and stuffing it back in her satchel, her eyes looking anywhere but at him, "We should probably get going. Gammy doesn't like it when I come home really late."

"Right…" Lucas muttered, disappointed that their moment had ended so abruptly.

He had honestly liked holding Maya's hand.

They gathered their things and headed back to his car so he could drive her the brief way home.

The car ride was undeniably awkward and Maya didn't say a word, contemplatively staring out of the window, tightly clutching the sleeve of her sweater. And before he knew it, he was already walking her up to her apartment door, and they still hadn't said anything to each other.

"It's really starting to get cold." He said as they walked down her floor, and he shivered.

He had to at least break the silence before he left her.

"They don't have a good heating system in the complex outside of the apartments." Maya supplied. "When it gets below a certain temperature, I just don't leave my apartment at all because I know it will be much colder outside if the hallways feel that cold."

They fell into silence once again as they came to a stop in front of her door.

"Hey, I was wondering…" Lucas started, rubbing the back of his neck a little nervously. "Since tomorrow is the last day we're painting sets, do you want to commemorate it with something special? Like go anywhere? Or do anything?"

Lucas knew deep down that he was technically asking her out and he hoped Maya wouldn't really pick up on that vibe because he was certain she would reject the offer. But when he looked at her, Maya looked genuinely surprised. Then she smiled, a slight sparkle to her eyes as she stared up at him. One that Lucas hadn't ever seen before, but decided he liked on her face.

"Yeah, I'd… I'd love to actually."

"Uh, what do you want to do?"

"Well, I've never been on a ferry boat ride before. It might be cool to go before the weather gets really cold."

"Okay then. Tomorrow night. You and me. Ferry boat ride."

"…Thank you, Lucas."

"No problem, Maya."

"See you tomorrow?" she asked softly, a faint blush painting her cheeks.

"Yeah." Lucas replied just as softly, "I'll see you."

Maya opened her apartment door and headed inside, casting him a brief smile over her shoulder before she disappeared behind the door in a wave of tousled blonde coils and a cloud of peach scented lotion.

Grinning from ear to ear, Lucas left her apartment feeling more at peace and happier than he had been in a while.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: Bonus chapter! So here's the sitch! My pneumonia cleared up for the most part, but I still have school and I'm still really behind because I missed so many classes, so I leave you with this chapter of this story as a peace offering (again lol), but (probably) no more big updates will happen until Saturday, because I'm terribly busy trying to study for my exams! I promise I will make it up to you guys with whatever I update this weekend ;3**

 **I appreciate the reviews! Thank you for the sweet and caring words! You guys are wonderful! :)  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.**

* * *

"Morning Mom." Lucas said with a grin, sidling up to her and leaning down and kissing her cheek.

She gave him an amused raised eyebrow.

"You seem to be in a pretty good mood this morning. What's going on with you?"

"Nothing." Lucas replied, picking up his keys and sliding on his jacket as he headed to the door, "Just happy about life."

"Well that's good to hear for once. I'm glad you've been staying out of trouble too, Lucas." She chuckled before turning back to her magazine. "Now hurry up and get your butt to school."

Lucas was sure he near skipped down the steps all the way to his car, an earsplitting grin on his face the entire time. Driving to school, he couldn't help the smile that would not leave his face. He was on cloud nine, and he definitely knew why.

He had a date with Maya.

So maybe she wasn't _aware_ that he was classifying it as a date in his head, but he knew he couldn't outright say it because he had a feeling she would reject him unbelievably fast. Still though. They were going out.

Lucas didn't know why he was so excited, but he was just glad to spend more time with Maya. He was planning on taking her somewhere special after they finished painting the sets—as of yet to be determined—for dinner before they went to the ferry. He knew he was making a big deal out of it, but he couldn't help it. He kind of wanted this to be special for her.

Aside from the fact that Maya was someone he'd grown to care about a lot, Lucas wanted to wipe away the melancholy that seemed to permeate her entire being. He wanted to make it go away. He didn't know what the cause was, but what he did know was that he wanted to be the one to take away that pain. And maybe with this little date, he could start to figure out the best way to do so.

Lucas was fairly early when he finally got to school and hopped out of his car, grabbing his bag and intending to head straight to the art room to see what kind of stuff Maya liked to eat. If he got some good intel, he could surprise her with a nice place she might enjoy. Maybe he could sneak away and buy some flowers or something.

As he walked through the halls of school, heading to his locker, he noticed Brandon and the guys standing near it, narrowed eyes on their faces and sneers on their lips. Billy was giving him an incredulous look and Mitch was giving him a dirty look. Even without the looks, their entire demeanor spelled trouble, and Lucas suddenly felt quite a bit of trepidation.

He walked to his locker, inputting the combination on the lock and trying and failing to ignore the disgusted glares of his friends.

"Well, well, well…" Brandon said, an unlit cigarette between his lips as he leaned back against the lockers, "Look who's here."

"What's up with you guys?" Lucas asked with a roll of his eyes, pulling out the books he didn't need and rummaging through his locker for what he did need. "Why are you all staring at me?"

"Don't play dumb." Jackson growled. "You know exactly why."

"No. I really don't."

"We went by Nighthawk Diner last night on our way to some party. And guess what we saw." Billy stated, crossing his arms in front of his chest and facing Lucas. "Is _that_ ringing any bells?"

Lucas froze in his search, his stomach dropping to his feet as he felt himself stiffen uncomfortably. A cold sweat ran down his back, and suddenly, Lucas was incredibly nervous and put on the spot.

"We saw you and the poor chick on a date last night." Zay said with a raised brow, "You were holding her hand. Seriously, man? You blew us off for _her_?"

Lucas slowly closed his locker, turning around with a nervous chuckle as he scratched the back of his head.

"What? No, we weren't… we weren't on a date."

"Sure seemed like it to me." Mitch said nonchalantly as he picked his nails, though his expression was anything but.

"And the part that just gets me," Brandon said, chuckling a little darkly, his eyes glinting, "Is how you lied to your friends all because some bitch gave you a little attention. What's your deal? Are you into her?"

And with that, Lucas knew he'd walked into a trap. All five of them were standing around him, somewhat blocking off any chance he had to escape, all watching him with shrewd gazes, waiting for an explanation for his recent behaviour. They wanted answers, and they wanted them now.

And Lucas knew if he said the wrong thing, they would ditch him without a second thought.

He swallowed thickly.

"I'm not into her." Lucas responded, shrugging his shoulders indifferently, though his stomach was twisting in knots, "I'm just… I was just trying to see if she was any good in bed."

And he automatically felt like crap when their eyebrows lifted in newfound interest and surprise.

"Damn, Lucas." Zay laughed. "Why didn't you just tell us? No wonder you haven't screwed Jennifer yet. You went for Maya."

"Of all the girls you could choose though…" Billy snorted, slapping Lucas on the back. "You went with the one who's poor as fuck and whose mom is a sex crazed maniac?"

"I mean, that's the point, right?" Lucas mumbled, somewhat averting his gaze and gripping the strap of his messenger bag, "If her mom is like that, she's bound to be just as easy."

"You hit that frigid, ice cold bitch?" Mitch said nodding reverently, "Mad respect, man. Sorry we doubted you."

"Yeah…"

Lucas should have felt better. He had basically just secured his friendships once again, but he had lied to do so, and he was so very ashamed of himself. Maya didn't deserve that. Badmouthing her like that made him feel absolutely disgusted with himself. Especially since his friends were eating it up as if it was cake.

He felt terrible for saying that, but he didn't know what else to say.

"So you mean to tell us that this whole time, all the time you were spending with her and all the times you ditched was just so you could bang her?" Brandon said, though the glint in his eyes hadn't diminished. His stare had hardened, and he was regarding Lucas with something a little treacherous in his gaze. "Why'd you keep it a secret that you were trying to fuck Gangbanger Hart though?"

"Why do you call her that?" Lucas glanced at Brandon, feeling his irritation spike.

"What?"

"Gangbanger."

"Because she's fucked a lot of members in gangs. That's what a gangbanger does."

"No she hasn't." Lucas almost immediately responded back, his eyes narrowing.

Maya wasn't that type of person, and Lucas doubted she had ever really been with anyone that way. She blushed whenever he would even move her hair behind her ear. There was no way she was used to any kind of intimacy like that. He didn't believe it.

"Are you seriously defending her right now?" Brandon rose a brow. "What do you care? Thought you were only interested in what's in her pants."

"I'm just saying what's the point of gossiping and spreading rumours about people for no reason?" Lucas quirked a brow, crossing his arms in front of his chest and mimicking Brandon's irate posture. "You're being a little bitch."

The guys laughed at Lucas tossing Brandon's words back at him, though Brandon was not amused. Brandon narrowed his eyes, staring Lucas down with a slightly dangerous look in them.

But the standoff was interrupted when the clicking of heeled footsteps stopped right by their pack.

"Hey Huckleberry."

And Lucas stiffened, every muscle in his body tightening in alarm as the one person he desperately did not want to be there at the moment showed up. His friends all turned to Maya, dirty smirks on their faces as they stared at her. Maya ignored them all, a small, cheerful smile uncharacteristic of her general expressions on her lips as she kept her eyes solely on Lucas.

He met her gaze, trying to send her mental waves to turn around and leave or just walk on or something and ignore him. _Anything_ for her to go away, because this was the absolute worse situation. He was hanging on a string here, and he could not talk to her right now.

"Hey Maya." he said evenly, not altogether friendly, not altogether unfriendly.

"We still on for tonight, Ranger Rick?"

Lucas mentally groaned. This was the _last_ thing he wanted to happen right at the moment. Why oh why did she have to bring it up? This wasn't a good time or place. He glanced briefly at Brandon, who was looking fairly suspicious now, and Lucas grew anxious when Brandon looked at him, seemingly waiting patiently for his response.

"Tonight?" Lucas asked, nervously licking his lips and thinking of how to save a quickly deteriorating situation.

"The ferry boat ride, duh. I thought it could be cool if we went out to dinner too after set painting, you know?" Maya rose a brow. "So we still on or what?"

The incredulous stares of his friends were all on him. Lucas felt a chill run down his back from the frigid nature of his friends' expressions. This was spiraling out of control. He could feel the pressure and rubbed the back of his neck, cursing his luck that she just had to mention the very thing that would precariously tip the situation in the wrong direction.

"Sounds like a date…" Mitch said slowly.

"Yeah Friar. You still on for tonight?" Brandon asked, a slight smirk on his face.

Lucas met Maya's gaze, who was waiting for his response, and he gave her a slight pleading look, hoping she could understand what he was about to say wasn't true.

"Forgot the difference between your dreams and reality, darling?" Lucas snorted derisively.

Maya blinked once, no particular reaction to his words on her features as she stared at him in silence for a moment.

And then he watched as a deadpan look took over her face, her jaw clenching and lips set in a grim line as she regarded him coolly.

But the worst were her eyes.

The soft, murky blue-gray had hardened impeccably, crystallized and become sharp and nasty, the guard that he worked so hard to drop fully in place. She didn't even look pissed. She just looked indifferent, as if he was just another person like everyone else. She had closed herself off from him. He could literally see the walls she had replaced between them.

And it was that indifference and her guarded gaze that made his heart squeeze in his chest.

"Right." Maya shook her head, chuckling to herself. "I knew it was too good to be true. Because what else should I have expected from you. Lucas Huckleberry Friar. Once an asshole, always an asshole."

He wanted to say something. He wanted to say something so badly to fix this mess, but he couldn't. His words had gotten caught in his throat. He felt like shit.

There wasn't even any anger in her expression. Just a deep disappointment. A deep disappointment and utter indifference as if she had come to realize he wasn't worth it. Especially the way she said his name. Not like she had taken to saying it recently, warm and teasing with a hint of affection, but spat out in disgust, spiteful and rough and meant to hurt. It was no longer a nickname of familiarity, but now an insult to who he was.

And it did hurt.

It hurt a lot.

When the bell for homeroom rang, Maya scoffed with a roll of her eyes, spun on her heel and left.

"We're heading to my place after school." Brandon said, "You gonna come this time or what, Friar?"

"Yeah… I'll come…"

Lucas stared after Maya as he responded, hoping she would turn back at least once as she walked briskly to her homeroom, her wild waves of hair flowing behind her with each of her motions.

But she never did.

And he knew he blew it.

Monumentally.

~.~.~

"Man, you should have seen the tits on this girl!" Zay finished, "Watermelons, I tell ya!"

"You're full of shit." Brandon snorted, "I saw that girl. She did not have watermelon tits."

Billy broke away from Missy for a few seconds with a smirk.

"Yeah, I agree. Oranges, max."

The guys started laughing, and Lucas leaned against the cushions of Brandon's basement couch, staring silently through the haze of smoke in disinterest. After that disastrous morning, he had skipped going to paint the rest of the sets with Maya, instead going with the guys to Brandon's place. He had been there all afternoon and it was starting to get late and he just wanted to go home. He just wasn't into hanging out with his friends or participating in the conversation, especially since they were drinking and smoking some stuff. Jackson had invited some girls over and now the whole large group was laughing loudly and making so much noise. But Lucas just wanted to spend time in solitude lost in his own thoughts. And it didn't help that his mind kept running through what had happened with Maya.

The way she had closed herself off from him after all of the time they had spent getting to know each other better. It was like he had taken a step forward only to fall back a gazillion steps. All of the progress in their relationship, and he'd stupidly wiped it away. And for what? Sitting in a basement degrading someone and discussing their anatomy and drinking until barely coherent and going to third base with everyone watching?

He would rather have been with Maya painting sets instead. But he just knew she wouldn't have been open. He just knew it.

Especially with the way her gaze had gone cold and dark, unforgiving and almost treacherous.

And he deserved it after treating her that way.

Lucas really did not feel good about it at all. And it wouldn't leave his mind.

Jennifer came up to the couch and sat next to him, bringing with her the nauseous scent of a revolting perfume that made him scrunch his nose in disgust.

"Here." She smiled, handing him a bottle of pop. "All these drugs and this alcohol are an annoyance, don't you think?"

Lucas took it without response, not really interested in conversing with her. He found it interesting that she would make a comment like that when he was sure he had seen her have some of Mitch's Mystery Punch, where the mystery in the drink was a bit of Everclear.

"Why are you sitting over here by yourself?" she asked softly, leaning into him and pressing her chest against his arm, resting her hand on his chest, "You look lonely."

"I'm not. Just bored."

"Yeah, me too…" She purred, her lips nearly pressed against his ear and the tufts of her breath hitting the side of his face as she dragged her finger down his chest. "We could always get out of here and ditch them, you know. I live around here. Why don't we go to my place? My parents aren't home. We could just chill in my room. Or you know, we could…"

Lucas remained silent, staring blankly out at nothing in particular.

"…Have some fun under my sheets." Jennifer said, leaning even closer. She was nearly on his lap. "Just the two of us…"

He turned his head to her, intending to tell her to get off of him and to tell her to back off because he just wasn't interested.

But she took it differently.

Before he could back away or avoid it, Jennifer took his face in her hands and closed the distance between them, pressing her mouth against his. She sucked his lower lip in between her teeth before letting go, kissing him slowly, tracing his lip with the tip of her tongue. She tasted like bitter vodka and tropical punch and some sweet strawberry flavour from her lip gloss.

But it felt wrong.

It felt so wrong, and Lucas was utterly disgusted with it.

He didn't respond, waiting patiently for her to stop whatever the hell she thought she was doing.

After a moment, he watched her frown, her eyes opening slowly as she backed away from him, looking particularly annoyed.

"Are you done?" Lucas asked indifferently, brushing her hands off of his face before wiping his mouth with his hand.

"Like, what is your problem?" Jennifer growled in irritation, "I've been throwing myself at you all month and you just don't respond. Are you just not sexually interested in girls or something? Because I can change that. Just one night in the sack with me. You'll see."

And that was all it took.

He felt something in him snap. Something that had been building for a while.

He was fed up. Fed up with Jennifer. Fed up with his so called friends. Fed up with this life. Fed up with putting on airs just to stay with a group when all he wanted was to spend time with the girl who made him feel like it was okay to be him for once. The girl who comforted him without thought and understood him without prompt.

He'd had it up to here.

And he wanted out.

"So just because I'm not ripping off your clothes, you think I'm gay?" Lucas' eyes narrowed dangerously, and Jennifer's brows rose in surprise, clearly not having expected him to lash out. She leaned slightly away from him, her expression shocked and partially alarmed by his tone of voice. "Did it ever occur to you that I'm _not_ attracted to you? Why the hell would I ever be attracted to a pathetic, desperate bitch? I don't want to sleep with you, so back the fuck off because I'm not interested in some whore whose only redeemable quality is that she's a great way to blow off steam for the entire male population of the school."

Jennifer's eyes were wide and slightly frightened as she stared at him. She looked hurt, offended from his verbal attack. Lucas hadn't realized just how loudly he had been talking, because everyone in the room had fallen silent by that point and were staring at the confrontation in shock.

Lucas glared at Jennifer in disgust, wanting nothing more than to continue to break her down. He _wanted_ to hurt her. Wanted her to feel the pain that was running through his heart from Maya's dismissal.

 _"…You know, when I get mad I usually paint to take my mind off of things so I don't try to take it out on people. What do you do, Lucas?"_

And he paused, stopping his tirade before he unleashed it on the unsuspecting girl.

Lucas stared at Jennifer and realized her nostrils were flaring in fury, a slight shine to her watery eyes as she glowered at him.

And he knew he couldn't continue. He just couldn't do it.

Trying to tear someone down and hurt them would make him no better than these people. It wouldn't do anything but make him feel worse about himself. It wouldn't alleviate any of his pain or problems.

And he knew Maya would be utterly disappointed in him.

"…I'm sorry, Jennifer." Lucas sighed, running a hand through his hair. "That was uncalled for."

Lucas rose to his feet, shaking his head in utter disgust, not caring that everyone was watching him like he'd lost his fucking mind. And Lucas wondered if he really had.

He blamed Maya for getting into his head.

For making him want to change. To be different.

For seeing something in him that he never thought he had himself.

And he knew exactly what he needed to do.

His heart suddenly started racing erratically in his chest as he glanced at each of them.

"You know, I can't keep pretending that I'm like this. This _isn't_ me." Lucas said, "There's more to life than sitting around getting wasted off of our asses and spending our days boozing and screwing people and breaking the law. I'm sick of this shit."

Without another word and not waiting for a response, Lucas left the basement, heading back upstairs and hurrying out. He hopped into his car and left, driving straight towards Maya's place.

He just wanted to see her.

He just wanted to hear her voice.

He just wanted some reassurance from her that even though he'd blown it, that he was still redeemable as a person.

That he was still redeemable _to her_.

He was pretty sure he broke about a thousand traffic laws and _far_ obliterated the speed limit on his way to her apartment, but he didn't care. His heart was jumping in his chest, and he was jittery and nervous.

But at least, for the first time ever, he felt like he'd done something right.

He felt like he had made a good decision.

Lucas barely stopped his car before he was out and racing into the lobby of Maya's worn down apartment. He raced up the stairs, not wasting any time. He nearly knocked over someone on the stairs in his rush to get to Maya's floor, but it was the farthest thing from his mind at the moment. He just needed to get to Maya. He hurried down her hall before stopping at her door, his heart beating wildly in his chest.

Lucas knocked on her door, several times, breathing heavily from his run and hoping she was in. Hoping desperately that she was in so he could fix this mess. So he could apologize. So he could make things between them right again. He should have gone to paint the sets that day. He should have gone to Maya and fixed the mess of their relationship right then and there. He only hoped he still had a chance to.

There was no response.

He banged his fist on the door multiple times again, refusing to give up. She had to be home by now. She just had to be.

He heard footsteps stomping up to the door and then the sound of locks unlatching.

"Do you mind?! My grandmother is sleeping!" Maya hissed as she ripped open the door. Her eyes met his, and her gaze almost immediately turned distant. Aloof. Frigid. And suddenly, Lucas was reminded of Mitch's words of Maya being ice cold. "Oh. You. Are you really standing here or am I just _dreaming_ right now?"

Lucas winced at the reminder of his words.

"Listen Maya. About today. I'm sorry. I'm just—"

"A coward. No, I get it."

"I'm really sorry." Lucas said, rubbing the back of his neck, "But anyway, ferry boat rides are twenty-four seven. We can still catch one if you want?"

Maya's blank expression didn't change. In fact, she didn't really emote anything or react at all. She stared up at him impassively.

"So… you were hoping we could still be friends." Maya stated after the silence had been drawn out for a while.

"Well…Yeah."

Maya chuckled, and Lucas grimaced from how empty it sounded. How it sent chills down his back when he noticed her eyes were still dull and lifeless, no mirth in her expression at all.

"And earlier, you were hoping we could do the whole you're a jerk at school to me with your friends but we're secretly friends kind of thing, right?"

"I…" He knew even before he answered that it was true. It was a particularly repulsive thing to want. He was ashamed of himself. "…Yeah."

"Well, I don't want it." Maya replied evenly, "Look Huckleberry. I've already had enough to deal with in my life. I don't need another leaver. If you want to be with your asshole friends, then go right ahead. But don't think for a second that I'll accept that it's okay for you to keep me hidden away like you're ashamed to be seen with me or something. If you can't hang out with me for real, if you can't accept us as real friends in public, then we're better off not being friends at all."

"Maya, I'm sorry. I was just—"

"Being a coward. We already established that." Maya cut him off abruptly, raising her hand to shut him up. "Apology not accepted. Sometimes it's not enough. I don't want empty words and constant apologies. I want to see you take steps to actually make things better. If you're just going to apologize over and over after doing the wrong thing, why do you keep doing the wrong thing? Why don't you try for once to do the right thing? So now that we've gotten past that, I think it's time for you to go."

"Maya, wait—"

"Why should I? You've made it clear that you can't handle being my friend _and_ theirs. And I've learned my lesson. You're an asshole."

"I ditched them, Maya. I'm not friends with them anymore. I don't want to be friends with them if it means having to hide my real self. If it means having to stop being friends with you." Lucas said hastily, almost pleading with her to take him back, "I'm not them. I swear. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"If you think someone like you who barely counts for anything in my life can hurt me, you've got another think coming." Maya responded cruelly, her eyes narrowing treacherously, "I was wrong about you. I can't believe I deluded myself into thinking for a second that you weren't just like Brandon and Billy and Zay and the others. You're just as bad. Actually, you're worse. At least I can always count on your friends to be assholes so I don't expect anything different. You? You pretend. You pretend like you're a good guy when the reality is that you're a shithead. And stupidly, I got duped."

They were words intended to cut deep. And they did.

Lucas felt his heart clench tightly in his chest in pain, staring at her in shock from the blow she had just delivered him.

"Maya… I'm not them. I care about you."

"You're not your friends, huh?" she said, ignoring his other comment completely, her expression blank and unaffected, "I think you're _exactly_ like them. An asshole and a pathetic excuse for a human being who will only ever be defined by the amount of people you hurt. Goodnight and good riddance. Don't come here again."

She slammed the door in his face and as dried paint flakes chipped off the door from the force and fluttered to the ground, Lucas knew he had lost her.

He really screwed up.

And he lost Maya.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: LOL why can't shoes be in bigger sizes?! I hate this! I can never find any shoes my size whenever I go shopping! x'( LOL fun fact. Sometimes I have to shop in the men/boy's sections to find what I'm looking for ahahah. (Then again, sweaters and sweatpants in the men's section are more comfy though... bah whatevs)  
**

 **Thank you for the sweet words you guys! I appreciate the reviews and I thank you for the support you guys have given me! I love you! :)  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.**

* * *

Lucas sighed dejectedly, swiping the broom across the same spot in the classroom absentmindedly, barely paying attention to the fact that he was dragging the dust back and forth over the same area.

But his mind wasn't on his task at hand.

It was still on Maya.

He'd ruined everything. He had lost her friendship and trust, and he knew it would take a lot to even get her to speak to him again, but he wasn't sure what to do. When he tried to talk to her, she blew him off without remorse and half the time, she wasn't even around and he wasn't sure where to go to find her.

"Look kid," Janitor Harley said from underneath one of the desks he was fixing, "If you're just going to clean the same spot over and over, I might as well just do it myself."

"Sorry." Lucas muttered apologetically, turning his attention back to what he was supposed to be doing, "I'm just kind of lost in my thoughts."

"I noticed. Is this about you no longer hanging out with those so called friends of yours who like to turn my school building into their own personal garbage dump?" he asked in return, "Congrats on leaving that group, Friar."

It was pretty much safe to say that Lucas was no longer friends with them. Lucas had been ignoring them. And they had been ignoring him too, which was fine by him. He didn't need negativity in his life right now and he'd made up his mind to end the friendship anyway. This was a good thing.

But he felt empty.

He missed Maya and her snark. The way her face would sour in annoyance when she was displeased. The way she would look at him curiously like she was trying to read him. The way her eyes would spark in amusement and she would bite her lower lip when she was trying to hold back a laugh. How calming and comforting her presence was. How seeing her genuine smile light up her face always set his pulse on fire.

But he didn't know what to do or where to start to fix this mess.

And Riley and Farkle had been ignoring him too, though Riley kept giving him these apologetic shrugs. And it was with good reason. They were only friends with him by association through Maya and he knew they still didn't totally trust him, though he had gotten to know them a little bit better. So it made sense to him that once he'd broken Maya's trust, they'd stopped talking to him too.

It was funny how one really wrong decision he'd made because he wasn't even secure in himself or who he was had ended up with him alone.

But despite all of that, the part that hurt the most wasn't his isolation—ironically, considering that was what he used to be the most afraid of if he stepped out of his status as a popular student.

What hurt the most was Maya's decision to eject him from her life.

It was Maya deciding he wasn't worth it as a friend.

It was Maya all but telling him that he was unredeemable.

"Kid. You gotta get your head outta your ass. You're making the floor dirtier than it was before we even got in here!"

"Sorry… I was just…" Lucas sighed, stopping entirely. "How did you make the change, Harley?"

"What?" Harley stood up from his crouch, glancing at Lucas.

"You told me you used to be involved in some bad stuff once." Lucas responded, "How did you change without losing everything of who you were?"

"Well first off. To not lose who you are, you need to know _who_ you are." Harley said as he walked over.

"What if I don't know?" Lucas asked quietly.

"Then find someone who does. Someone who can see the real you and brings it out. Someone who brings out the best in you." Harley nudged him with a small smirk. "Someone like for example… a certain pint sized blonde who stomped on Mitch's toes today because he tried to steal a freshman's lunch money."

Lucas' lips curved up in a small smile. That was just like Maya to do that.

"You understand what I'm saying?"

"Yeah."

He needed to talk to Maya. He needed to keep trying until she let him back in. It was the only way.

"In the meantime, get." Harley said, taking the broom out of Lucas' hand, "My floor's not getting clean, and you're clearly not in it today."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. Just go find her." Harley gave him a pointed raised brow. "Don't come back until you figure out how to fix this mess. I feel like you're not gonna be any help otherwise."

Lucas nodded and left, hurrying out of the room to go find Maya. He headed down the hall and through the empty corridors of the school to the stairs leading to the basement. He hoped Maya would at least listen to a little bit of what he had to say.

When he entered the muggy studio art room, he had expected Maya to be in there painting as she usually did, but she wasn't in there. Ms. Kossal was, looking at some art work by students on the wall and seemingly grading them.

"Uh, excuse me."

She turned and smiled when she saw him. "Lucas. You know there are no more sets to paint right? Maya finished up the last two the day you were out sick."

"…Out sick?"

"Last Thursday I believe? She told me you were sick and couldn't make it."

"Right… yeah… I forgot we were done."

Maya had lied and excused his deliberate lack of showing up after he had insulted her in front of his friends as him being sick. She could have easily told what he'd actually done. He felt even worse about it than he did before.

"Do you know where Maya is?"

"Maya?" Ms. Kossal said, turning back around and continuing to grade paintings, "Oh she's in the drama room checking up on some of the completed sets to see if they need a touch-up. But she's been there for a while, so I'd hurry up if I were you so you can catch her before she leaves."

"Thank you."

Lucas left the art room, heading back up the stairs and towards the theatre, knowing that was where the drama room was. He only hoped Maya wouldn't be armed with a paint and paintbrush. She had a tendency to attack with whatever was on hand, and he wasn't sure he wanted a paint brush shoved in his mouth or a paint can dumped on him. Though he knew there was also the possibility of her foregoing using props and utilizing her tried and true method of stomping on toes.

As he approached the drama room, seriously questioning the safety of his wellbeing, he heard some stray notes. Lucas stopped walking for a moment, brows furrowed as he listened.

Someone was singing.

And it was beautiful.

The kind of smoky, deep, rich voice that was enchanting, and Lucas found himself lost in a slight daze as he just listened to the person.

He knew the voice.

As he walked the rest of the way and into the doorway, as he suspected, he saw Maya. She was traipsing about on stage, acting out the role of the lead and singing the lead part for the winter play. Having heard the lead sing it several times whenever he and Maya would transport the set pieces, it sounded weird not hearing the other girl's lilting, honey-like voice. But not weird bad. Maya's voice fit oddly well. It certainly was different, but the way Maya sang it, it was remarkable and powerful and made Lucas' heart race as he watched her. It was hard to take his eyes off of her as she jumped around and danced exaggeratedly on stage, expressive and excited, just as the lead should be.

She was beautiful up there, the spotlight on her as she spun around, singing to her heart's content.

There was just something about it—Maya unabashedly singing without any reservations, a smile on her face and her eyes bright—that made Lucas wonder if she had ever really let herself go before. If she was always holding back. If she was always closed off normally. If anyone had ever heard her sing before. She looked so at peace and so free up there, he couldn't help but smile.

And then Maya saw him and stopped mid spin, almost immediately clamming up as she stared at him.

Neither said a word, Maya just blinking at him, an almost look of embarrassment on her face as her cheeks rouged.

"Don't stop…" Lucas heard himself whisper, though he wasn't sure he had told himself to say the words in the first place.

"There are no more sets to paint." Maya snapped, moving off of the raised platform in the room and snatching up her bag from the floor. She slung it over her shoulder. "What do you want?"

"Nothing… I was just…"

Maya didn't respond, grabbing the paint can she'd left near the completed sets.

"Why didn't you participate in the play? You have a beautiful voice."

"The spotlight isn't for me."

"But you're amazing."

"Tell you what. I'll stop standing in the background when you stop being an asshole." Maya walked by him on her way out with a glare aimed at him. "But I guess that'll never happen."

She began to leave, brushing past him without another look and Lucas felt his trepidation rise. Those were the first words she'd spoken to him in a while, much less first time she even acknowledged him directly, and he would be damned if he let her go before he had a chance to try to fix things.

Lucas turned around and took her wrist, stopping her before she could really leave.

"Maya," he said, "I'm sorry, okay? You don't know how sorry I am, and I feel like shit. I learned my lesson. I was stupid, and I made a mistake. I made the wrong choice, and I regret it so much because you never deserved that kind of treatment. I really do care about you. And the friendship we were building is more important to me than you know. I want it back. What can I do to make it up to you? Just tell me. Please."

Maya's gaze remained on the floor, and she was silent for a long while. But she didn't pull her arm out of his grasp or stomp on his foot or clobber him with the paint can in her other hand, and Lucas wondered if he'd gotten through to her.

"If you have to ask me what you can do to fix a mistake _you_ made," Maya finally muttered, lifting her gaze and meeting his, "Then you haven't learned anything yet, Lucas."

He was surprised to see that the anger in her eyes was no longer there. There was still indifference. Still a disappointment, but there was something else there. He wouldn't necessarily say hope, and he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was, but it made him feel like Maya might have partially opened up a sliver of the tightly locked guard she had on her life to him.

He felt like maybe he had an opening once again. One chance to make it right.

But he also knew damn well that if he screwed this up though, it would be over for good.

"Let go of me." She was staring at the ground again. "I have somewhere I need to be right now."

Lucas loosened his grip and let her wrist slip out of his hand. Maya walked on without another word, leaving him behind staring after her. He sighed, wondering how long it would take before he could fix the things he'd screwed up so badly.

Maya was wrong. He _had_ learned his lesson. The hard way.

But he still had no idea what to do to get her back.


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: Long time no write. So here's the sitch: this story is hard af to write. Not as in "difficult" but as in tough. I take frequent breaks from it, and this has been one long break from this story. But I guess I'm back? [will revise this chapter later]  
**

 **Also, this story is _just_ T. **

**Thank you for the kind reviews! I appreciate it and the support you guys have given me! I hope this chapter is to your liking! :)  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.**

* * *

"Do any of you know why Maya stayed home from school today too?" Lucas asked, approaching Farkle and Riley where they were gathering up their tutoring items.

The two glanced at each other for a few seconds, pausing midway in their cleaning procedures before they both turned back to Lucas, uneasy expressions in their eyes. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and wondering if Maya had put them up to it to make sure anything he asked went ignored. Lucas understood their loyalties to Maya, but couldn't they answer a simple innocent question?

"I'm worried about her, okay?" Lucas continued. "She missed school yesterday too, and I wanted to know if things are okay."

"She's tired." Riley blurted, though her voice squeaked a bit by the end of her statement. "And she's taking a few days off."

He didn't know Riley all that well, but he could definitely tell that the squeak voice was a clear sign she had lied to him. Or at the very least, she was definitely hiding something.

"Does she usually get tired a lot?"

Riley nodded.

"Just go visit her." Farkle muttered, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "She might be willing to talk to you."

"Not after what I did…"

"You don't know that." Riley stated. "She'll be happy you came to visit."

"Probably not." Farkle remarked, waiting for Riley to gather the rest of her books into her bag. "I mean, you did break her trust. Maya doesn't trust people easily, so you only get one chance. And you blew it."

"Farkle." Riley rose a brow. "You could be a little encouraging, you know?"

"We can't lie to him about how Maya might react," he replied as he checked his phone. "When she gets mad she's not afraid to squash toes or kick shins. I think it's better that he knows what he could be walking into, especially since she's not currently fond of him."

Lucas groaned, and Farkle shrugged somewhat apologetically.

"It's been a week. Maybe she's chilled out by now."

"I sure hope so…" Lucas grumbled.

He didn't know how much of this Maya silent treatment he could take anymore. He'd been trying—to no avail—to get her to open up to him again, but she was just not having it and still avoiding him with everything she had. He just wanted to talk to her again. He wanted to see her eyes light up the way they did when she was amused and the small smiles that would appear on her face when she got lost in thought. But what he missed especially was the belief she had always had in him that he was better than how he used to behave.

"Bye Lucas!" Riley waved before sliding her hand into Farkle's as the two began to head out of the ward.

Lucas gathered the rest of his own materials and shoved them in his bag before pulling it up on his shoulder and making his way to Nadia's room. He supposed he would visit her since Maya wasn't there.

As he approached Nadia's door, he heard loud, dry coughing. There was a doctor beside her bed, monitoring Nadia and jotting some notes on a clipboard. Nadia was a little pale and bunched up under her covers, clearly trying to keep warm. Lucas knocked lightly on the door, catching both of their attention.

"Prince Charming." Nadia smiled weakly, her voice a bit faint and eyes half lidded in fatigue.

"Excuse me." Her doctor said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Nadia is very fatigued today, and seems to have something of a cold. She's not feeling well, so I don't advise any visits this evening."

"Please, Dr. Ramirez?" Nadia pleaded, turning a puppy dog pout on the woman. "He's my friend."

"I promise this will be quick." Lucas said. "No more than five minutes."

Dr. Ramirez' brows furrowed, and she rubbed her temples in annoyance.

"Five minutes. That's all you have."

Lucas smiled and walked fully inside the room, heading over to the chair beside her bedside.

"Sorry I'm not in the best shape." Nadia yawned, turning a bit under her covers so she was looking at Lucas directly. "Some days I'm just so tired…"

"Hey," Lucas said. "It's okay. Don't push yourself."

"Maya didn't come in today?"

"Riley said she's tired too and that she's taking a day off."

Nadia nodded. "Sounds like Maya."

"But I get the feeling that she's also avoiding me and everywhere I go. She's kind of mad at me."

"I heard that too." Nadia giggled softly. "From Riley. She called it a lover's squirrel."

"…Squirrel?"

"You know? When a boyfriend and girlfriend fight?"

A lover's _quarrel_ no doubt.

"I hurt Maya. I said something mean to her and broke her trust, and now she won't talk to me anymore." Lucas sighed. "I don't know what to do to make things better. I know I really messed up, but I can't think of how to regain her trust."

"She'll come around, Lucas. She just needs to see that you care about more people than yourself."

"I just wish I could think of a way to show that to her…" he muttered, glancing around the room nonchalantly. "I do care about other people. I just have terrible ways of showing it sometimes."

"What a coincidence. So does Maya." Nadia giggled.

Lucas chuckled. "Except with you and the others. She's always showing how much she…"

And then it hit Lucas.

Showing that he cared wasn't necessarily all about big gestures. And like Maya, he cared about these kids in the hospital. Seeing them continue to battle their illnesses and fight to have a chance at a normal childhood once they were better was an unbelievable privilege he was lucky to get to experience. These kids deserved the world and more, and even if Lucas couldn't give them the world, he could definitely help them experience more in life that they were missing due to their ailments.

And he had the perfect idea.

"Nadia, have you ever seen a live play?"

"Hmmm… No. I've seen puppet shows though. Why?"

"No reason." He smiled. "I was just curious."

And Lucas knew exactly what he had to do: he would put on a play for the kids in this hospital ward. But if he wanted to pull this off, he would need some help. Maya knew absolutely all of the kids. No doubt having her input would be perfect for coming up with the best play to intrigue and interest everyone in some small way. Plus he could ask the other tutors to participate in the play. It could be something like a gift from the tutors to the kids.

Nadia started coughing heavily into her elbow, jolting Lucas from his thoughts, each of her coughs punctuated by wheezes as she tried to catch her breath. Lucas fought the urge to wince. When she'd finally ridden out the wave of the cough, she closed her eyes, taking a few deep, long breaths.

"I think it's time for you to leave now." Her doctor stated, gesturing to the door. "Five minutes are up."

Lucas stood up and walked to the doorway, turning around and glancing at the little girl almost engulfed by her covers in that hospital bed.

"Sleep well, Nadia. I hope you feel better soon."

"Come visit me again, Prince Charming…" she murmured, her eyes still closed and voice drowsy.

Lucas left the room, a bit more confident about the Maya situation now that he had a plan. He hurried on his way out of the ward, excited to tell Maya his idea and hoping it would be enough for her to decide to actually talk to him.

~.~.~

Lucas lifted his hand to Maya's apartment door, taking a deep breath and preparing himself for a possible onslaught of brutal words as Maya was prone to do. He'd bought a rose from a vendor outside the hospital, hoping that maybe the flower would appease her anger in some way.

He knocked on the door, releasing the breath he'd been holding as he waited for someone to open it. All too soon, he heard footsteps approach.

Lucas swallowed hard when the door swung open, hoping Maya wouldn't try to slam it in his face the moment she saw him. He smiled as he looked down at Maya in fuzzy socks and some thick pajamas, her nose a bit pink from the apparent cold of her apartment. There were bags under her eyes, as if she hadn't been able to properly sleep.

She stared up at him, her expression going blank almost immediately.

"Why are you here? I thought I told you to never come back here again."

"I brought you a rose." Lucas said sheepishly, holding it up. "Thought you might want it."

Maya glowered at him, her gaze darkening.

"I hate roses. They're the most generic flower I've ever seen in my life. Get lost, Lucas. I don't want to talk to you."

She started to close the door, but Lucas stepped inside and stopped her from closing the door with his hand, placing it firmly in the middle and holding the door still.

"Let go of my door."

"Maya, I just want to talk to you." Lucas frowned. "I have an idea I want to run by you."

"Then tell Riley or Farkle, and they'll let me know."

Lucas turned and leaned his back against the door, crossing his arms in front of his chest and raising a brow. She pushed against him, grunting a bit as she tried to get him out of the way.

"Would you move?! You're letting in a draft!"

"I'm not leaving until you let me in."

" _You_ …" Maya growled. "You are such a… such a _fucking_ —"

"Who's at the door, Maya?"

Maya glanced over her shoulder at the voice in the kitchen, still trying to push Lucas out of the doorway and back into the hallway, but he wouldn't budge. He watched her, amused at her attempts.

"No one, Gammy. Just some kid selling girl scout cookies. She was just leaving."

"I thought I heard a male voice though."

"Nope."

But the oldest Hart came out of the kitchen despite Maya's aversion tactics, wiping her hands on a rag attached to her apron as she approached. Her eyes lit up when she saw Lucas.

"Well. Maya, why didn't you tell me your boyfriend came to visit you? Invite him in."

Maya's cheeks flushed, and she abruptly took her hands off of Lucas, taking a large step away from him.

"No Gammy." She said firmly. "He's not my boyfriend. He's not even my friend."

"You're that nice boy who helped carry my daughter inside that one time, aren't you?" Gammy continued, ignoring Maya completely. Lucas nodded. "What's your name?"

"Lucas Friar." He gave Gammy the roses. "I brought roses, but I guess Maya doesn't want them."

"Well Lucas. Any boy who helps my Katy is a friend of our family." Gammy said with a bright smile that Lucas had seen on Maya's face before. He could tell Maya really resembled her grandmother, especially the striking shade of blue of her eyes. "Come inside. You said you needed to talk to Maya, yes?"

"Gammy!" Maya said indignantly. "He's an asshole. Don't invite him in!"

"Maya, at least hear him out. He brought roses."

Maya growled under her breath, rolling her eyes in annoyance as she moved away from the door and towards the living room window. Lucas straightened and closed the door before walking further into the familiar room. It smelled of fresh baked cookies and that sweet, comforting scent he'd come to associate with Maya. There was an easel beside the window he hadn't really paid that much attention to the last time he'd been there. Maya sat on the faded blue stool, facing the easel, and picked her pencil back up so she could continue her sketch.

"Come sit down, Lucas. Would you like some tea? We only have jasmine though since it's Maya's favourite. Sorry we can't offer much."

"Uh, that's okay. My mom doesn't want me out very late so I'll be leaving soon."

He walked to the tattered couch and settled down on the cushion as Gammy Hart picked up a chipped porcelain vase on the centre of the coffee table. She set the roses in it before hobbling back into the kitchen towards the sink.

"You have great bone structure, Lucas." Gammy Hart stated with a laugh. "Can you marry Maya? Or better yet, can Maya bear your children so I can get some great-grandkids?"

"Gammy!" Maya spun around on her stool in alarm, her cheeks burning with a blush and eyes wide in embarrassment. "Please stop! I would never marry him!"

Gammy Hart snorted in amusement as she turned on the tap, and Lucas had to fold his lips in to keep from laughing. Maya's eyes met Lucas' briefly when she glanced up and she quickly looked away, her nose wrinkled in annoyance.

"Well? What do you want?" she asked sharply. "You got what you wanted, didn't you? So talk."

"You weren't at school today. And the kids at the hospital missed you."

"No shit, Sherlock." Maya crossed her arms in front of her chest. "If that's all you came to say, then you've wasted both mine and your time. I skip school at least once a week. So if you're done, the door is over there. You can see yourself out."

"Look. I know I wrecked our friendship and destroyed your trust in me. And I know getting it back is going to take everything I have, but I didn't come here to try to make amends tonight. At least not directly." Lucas said. "Maya, I came here because I want to put on a play for the kids in the hospital before Christmas. I was thinking we could ask Mr. Hearst if we could borrow some of the sets from the school play."

That seemed to get her attention. Maya's brows rose a bit in surprise, her arms unfolding and hands settling on her lap.

"A play?" she asked. "Which one?"

"Well, I was thinking we could do Rapunzel since it's Nadia's favourite. We'll write an abridged version of the play, cast the volunteers in some parts, and then perform it. It's just so that the children can see a play, especially since many of them are confined in the hospital."

And especially if some of them weren't going to make it into the next year, like Nadia.

Maya stared at Lucas curiously, slightly chewing on her lower lip as he waited for her response. She looked pleased, intrigued by the prospect. He could see the corners of her lips tugging up into a smile despite her obvious efforts to keep it at bay.

"I'm not praising you," Maya said, averting her gaze and looking at the cuckoo clock on the wall, "but I like this idea."

Lucas smiled. Stubborn as always.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, the only background noise Gammy's soft humming from the kitchen and the rattling of their ancient heater. Lucas stared at the picture frame on the bookshelf of a very young Maya covered in mud and running away from Katy in her diapers. A younger Katy whose smile reached her eyes and seemed to have no care in the world. Lucas wondered what could have changed so drastically to turn that Katy into the one he had first met when she was emptying the contents of her stomach into a lobby plant. He wondered if it had to do with her husband leaving her years ago.

"What I want to know is…" Maya muttered, suddenly breaking the silence. "Why are you doing this?"

When Lucas brought his gaze back to Maya, she was watching him expectantly, no distaste in her eyes and none of the indifference that had been in her expression when she looked at him.

"Because I care about other people. I know right now I seem like I'm a selfish bastard—"

"That's not true." Maya interrupted.

He stared at her, his heart suddenly skipping a beat in his chest. "What?"

"You don't seem like a selfish bastard. You are one."

Lucas sighed. "I get it. You hate me and I suck and you'll never forgive me."

"I never said I hated you," she said simply, though her expression gave nothing away.

"…But?"

"But nothing. I said I don't hate you, Lucas. Believe it if you want to." She rubbed her arm, not quite looking at him. "I can't forgive you though. Not right now…"

"Then when?" he asked, feeling a little hopeful that maybe that meant he still had a chance.

That she might still let him into her life after all.

"I don't know, okay?" Maya frowned, her cheeks tinged with pink again. "Stop badgering me. I have some things I need to think about first. For now, just… I don't know. Shut up!"

"Alright. I understand." Lucas nodded, checking his watch. It was just about a quarter to ten. His mother would be angry if he came home late. Even though she was proud of his progress, he knew she was still wary that he would begin acting up again. He stood up with a sigh, deciding Maya wasn't going to budge on her stance any time soon. All he could do was hope for the best and do everything in his power to try to mend the relationship he'd broken because he was too stupid and too scared to break away from who he had been. "I'll head home. Sorry to bother you."

He made his way to the door, Maya rising from the stool and walking behind him to walk him out. When he had opened the door and left the apartment, he waved over his shoulder before shoving his hands into his pocket.

"Tell your grandma I said goodnight."

"Lucas."

He turned back around, surprised by the serious tone with which she said his name. It had been completely lacking the condescension she used to refer to him recently. Maya was fidgeting with the hem of her tattered sweater, the tips of her ears red as she stared at him.

"Yes Maya?"

"I'm looking forward to putting on this play with you…"

Was this her way of telling him he was on the way to being forgiven? He searched her eyes, realizing that for the first time in a while, she was finally looking at him normally again, without the harsh edge that had permeated her gaze since he'd made his mistake and hurt her.

"I'm looking forward to it too." Lucas smiled. "Goodnight Maya."

Maya smiled too, a genuine one that glowed, lighting up the storm in her eyes. His heart stared pounding hard in his chest. Her smile left him speechless, breathless, and Lucas couldn't help but stare at her, mesmerized by the warmth in her gaze. And he suddenly felt the unbelievable urge to lean down and kiss her.

"Goodnight."

She shut her door. Lucas stood in front of it in shock for a handful of seconds, knocked off guard by her radiant smile. He took a deep breath, wondering why he had reacted so strongly to Maya.

And with startling clarity, he realized he had a crush on her.

Lucas liked Maya.

A lot.

And the more he thought about it, the more he realized he'd probably liked her since the day he'd seen her beautiful million watt smile that first fateful day they'd conversed.

"Shit."


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hi ISing4Life! I can definitely slip that in somewhere ;3**

 **I appreciate the sweet reviews you guys! Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to drop some kind words! It's really nice of you and it means a lot to me! :3  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.**

* * *

Lucas grabbed his keys from his dresser, rushing to pull on his shoes to head to school for the day. He cursed under his breath, annoyed that since he'd spent the entire night struggling to sleep, he had overslept. His mind had been permeated with thoughts of gorgeous murky blue eyes and million watt smiles and sun-kissed blonde hair in a ponytail swishing back and forth. His heart had been racing throughout the entire night, unable to settle his thoughts enough to catch a few winks of sleep until just about an hour before his alarm had rung. He'd slept right through it unfortunately, but thankfully, he had an emergency alarm set on his phone that had woken him up in time to get ready. He'd have to skip a real breakfast, but at least he wouldn't be late.

This had been going on all weekend, and Lucas didn't know how much more he could take of the sleep deprived nights.

Lucas grabbed his bag and slung it on his shoulder before hustling out of his room, wondering if his mother had already left.

"Do you need a ride to your bookclub meeting, Mom?" he called out as he rounded the corner and saw his mother in the kitchen.

"No…" she muttered absentmindedly, "I'm walking to it."

Lucas paused, staring at her, his brows furrowing in concern. When he left for school, his mom usually enjoyed a cup of chai and the morning paper, but that wasn't the case that morning. She was almost violently scrubbing at the coffee stain on the counter, frustration evident in her demeanor and the hunch of her shoulders. She was clearly bothered by something and Lucas briefly panicked, wondering if he'd done something to piss her off once again. He honestly couldn't remember breaking any rules or doing anything disdainful other than betraying Maya's trust a while back.

(And _maybe_ those slightly inappropriate dreams he may or may not had been having about Maya throughout the weekend, but there was no way his mother knew about that, right?)

"Mom, is everything all right?" he asked tentatively.

"Hmm?" She glanced up briefly from scrubbing, looking conflicted. "Yes. Everything's peachy."

"Clearly not. You're cleaning the stain again." Lucas pointed out, picking up an apple from the fruit bowl on their dining table. "Tell me what's going on."

"Lucas…" his mom said with a sigh as she set the rag down and met his gaze squarely, "I've been holding off on telling you this all semester, but Thanksgiving break is about to start for you, and I just feel so guilty. I can't keep it to myself anymore."

A sense of dread filled him at the apprehensive look in his mother's eyes. What in the world was going on?

"Mom, what happened?"

"Your father called about two weeks ago asking about you and how you were doing, and I never told you. He's been waiting for a response."

He froze, the apple halfway to his mouth. He stared at his mother, his appetite suddenly gone along with the rest of his good mood. That was exactly what he needed, a mention of the man who had betrayed his family and made Lucas' life hell for not living up to his stupid expectations.

"What did he want?" Lucas growled, dropping the apple back into the bowl.

"He wanted you to come to Texas and spend Thanksgiving break with his family this year. You're going to college next year; your father thought it would be a good idea to try to reconcile before you became an adult and went on with your life. I know you're still mad at him, but he's your father. And he wants you to get to know your other siblings. Your brother asks about you sometimes apparently. I think—"

" _Half_ -brother. And from an affair no less. With all due respect, Mom," Lucas interrupted before she continued with her little speech, his fists clenched in annoyance, "I may have his DNA, but he's _not_ my father. So tell him I refuse. I want nothing to do with him."

His mom didn't answer for a few seconds, shocked, and Lucas sighed, wondering if she was gearing up to give him the chewing out of his lifetime for being so obstinate about reuniting with his dad, despite his father's few attempts a few years back to try to patch up their broken relationship.

But then she smiled, setting down the rag and walking over to Lucas. She reached up and cradled his cheek, a proud look on her face as she looked up at him.

"I knew you were going to say no."

"So why did you look so surprised?" Lucas asked in confusion.

"Because you usually always get so mad if I even mention him." She pinched his cheek. "But you responded so calmly and maturely for a second I was wondering if you were really my Lucas."

"Ha ha, Mom." He rolled his eyes, ducking out of her reach with a smile. "I guess I've just calmed down a bit."

He had Maya to thank for that. She was his safe place. A sanctuary from his anger even when she wasn't around.

Well, she _had been._ Except now he could recognize that he had a mondo crush on her and he wasn't sure how he would be able to face her without wanting to kiss her or thinking about wanting to kiss her or imagining himself kissing her. Lucas wasn't used to having crushes or liking people in such a way, but there was something about Maya that lit up his pulse and made his palms clammy and made him sweat. She made him feel like a hormonal, prepubescent boy with a crush on a girl all over again and it was really throwing him off.

"Well I'm happy you've started to clean up your act, Lucas." She responded, heading back into the kitchen when the timer on the oven rang. "You've made great progress. I hope this isn't just a temporary thing, because I really don't want to get another call that you've been arrested."

He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Those days felt like a distance dream now. The more he thought about the trouble he used to get into, the more ashamed he felt that he'd ever let himself behave that way when it had never really been him.

"It won't happen again. I promise, Mom," Lucas said seriously. "I'm never going back to that version of me."

She nodded, pulling out a finished breakfast casserole from the oven. "I believe you, cowpoke. Don't disappoint me."

"I won't." He made his way to the door when his watch beeped for the hour. It was already eight o'clock. If he didn't get a move on, unless he drove absolutely, dangerously crazy on the road, there was no way he would be able to get to homeroom in fifteen minutes. "I have to head off to school. See you later, Mom."

"Mmhmm. Have a nice day."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," he called over his shoulder. "Mom, I might be bringing some people over tonight to work on something."

"People?" Her brows were knit in concern, her lips a bit pursed. "As in friends of yours?"

"Don't worry." He smiled. "You'll like these ones."

~.~.~

"The play went by without a hitch over the weekend, Mr. Friar," Mr. Hearst said, a pleased look on his face as he tossed up his mini football. "The sets looked great, and Miss Hart confirmed to me that you had a big hand in helping her paint them all. She said you caused no trouble for her."

Except that he had caused trouble for her. And he hadn't even helped her finish painting the last set. Lucas chuckled halfheartedly, not entirely comfortable with the idea that Maya had lied for him again, despite the fact that she had gotten hurt because of him. He owed her a lot for choosing to lie to their principal and cover for him despite the fact that by all means, she could have definitely revealed the truth.

"You've officially completed part of your community service requirement," Hearst continued. "You're really turning a new leaf, you know that?"

"Yeah, I'm trying," Lucas responded.

"How's the tutoring going?"

"It's good. I was planning on putting on a play for the kids after break since I don't think many of them have had the chance to leave the hospital. I thought it could be a nice way to close out the year. Do you think we could borrow some of the sets since they don't need to be used anymore?"

"Of course. That's a great idea and an excellent way to give back to the community. "

"Great. I'll let Maya know."

"You do that." Hearst nodded, setting his football back on the desk when the bell rang. "You're doing real well, Friar. Keep up the good work and your days of delinquency will definitely be in the past."

"Thank you."

Lucas stood up and left the office so he could head to his next class of the day. As he headed down the hallway, he caught sight of Brandon and his old friends standing near Zay's locker, hanging out before the class period began. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and bracing himself for them to harass him or something. Normally, he would have just avoided them completely, but his classroom was right around the corner of that set of lockers and there was no long way he could take.

Don't get him wrong, Lucas wasn't _scared_ of them per se, but he knew how Brandon and the others operated and he couldn't get caught up in some tiff with them when he was trying to rebrand himself and graduate. They knew he was trying his hardest to stay out of trouble and jail, so he had no doubt, given the chance, they would do their best to get him into trouble. And that's what he was afraid of. The fact that they had no qualms attacking the most vulnerable thing that they knew about people. The fact that Brandon especially went for people's weak spots with little to no concern over how he much he could hurt them.

Lucas had been so concerned with acting unconcerned by them that he hadn't even noticed someone sidle up beside him until a hand slipped into his. He instantly recognized who it was from the wave of peach that drifted into his nose and how the small, warm hand just seemed to fit perfectly in his own. His heart jumped in his chest, and he swallowed hard, trying to play it cool.

He glanced down at Maya, a questioning brow raised. "Last I saw you, I thought you hated my guts?"

"I told you I didn't hate your guts. I just haven't forgiven you yet." Maya rolled her eyes.

He lifted up their conjoined hands, a teasing smirk on his lips.

"So what's this for?"

She shrugged, her gaze drifting momentarily over to his ex-friend group. "I thought you might want the support. It's not easy losing what you once had."

He could understand why she would say that. They had all fallen silent, eyes narrowed and sneers and dirty looks on their faces as they watched Lucas and Maya pass, but surprisingly, he really found he didn't care. His thoughts were currently preoccupied with keeping himself from revealing how ecstatic and slightly flustered he was that Maya was opening up to him again in her own little way. And of course, that she'd held his hand of her own accord.

"Thanks. I'm good though, I promise. I'm not bothered by it."

And he really was, now that Maya was beside him. But she still didn't let go of his hand, despite his telling her that he was fine.

"That's good." She gave his hand a small squeeze.

And Lucas didn't think the grin on his face could ever be wiped off.

~.~.~

"So are we just about done with the script?" Lucas asked, his eyes skimming over the page as he checked to see if they'd gotten it pretty much down. If they weren't done with it now, they wouldn't be done until after the break. But they didn't have that much time after the break and would need the time away from school for lines to be able to be memorized. "It looks finished."

They'd been working all afternoon and well into the evening to get the script officially finished for the play. It was starting to get pretty late, but Lucas knew they couldn't leave until they'd gotten it taken care of.

Riley nodded as Lucas handed it over to her to check. "I think we're done."

"Good." Maya muttered, biting back a loud yawn, her eyes half lidded as she rested her cheek on the carpet. Lucas could tell she'd been exhausted since she'd arrived at his place, yet she'd been fighting to stay awake with them to help get the play done. "Took us long enough."

"Well, writing a play isn't easy," Farkle remarked as he took his turn to look over the play. "There are a bunch of comma splices here in this section. You're not very good at punctuation, are you Maya?"

She punched his leg in annoyance, and Farkle laughed, trying to avoid her second swing at him.

"It doesn't have to have the right punctuation since we're not turning it in for a grade anyway!"

"Well on the bright side," Riley exclaimed, "I asked a couple of the doctors, nurses, and staff for permission to use the Wednesday right after Thanksgiving break ends to put on the play, and they said yes!"

"And I asked drama club if they could loan us costumes and they were fine with it," Farkle added as he started cleaning up some of the stuff he'd brought. "So now, we just need to cast parts, right?"

"Lucas is playing the prince," Maya stated resolutely, as if leaving no room for argument.

That was a surprise to him. Lucas' gaze snapped to hers, wondering if she was joking or not about that considering how many times she kept saying he was like a movie villain. Sometimes he wondered whether Maya honestly saw him that badly. Especially after she'd compared him to Jafar once which had quite frankly been pretty damn insulting.

"Me?" he asked. "I've never acted before. Besides, isn't that ironic? I'm a 'villain', remember? I wouldn't fit the part."

"A lot of the kids keep asking me if you're a prince, and it might be nice for them to have some sort of fantasy, even if you are the _farthest_ thing from a Prince Charming. And you have acted before. Not in any plays in particular, but in real life you have."

"Fine." He leaned back against the side of his bed, his arms crossed in front of his chest and a challenging brow raised. "I'll play the prince only if _you_ play the princess. Step out of the background. And you have to sing at some point."

"Hell no. No deal." She pulled herself up to her knees with a grunt. "Princesses are Riley's territory, not mine."

"No way, Maya," Riley piped up cheerfully as she put her notebook back into her bag. "This is your time to shine. These kids want to see you as the princess because they already see you as a princess in their minds."

"I don't like being in the spotlight."

"Can you do it for me? Be the princess, Peaches. Please?" Riley muttered softly, picking at her fingernails dejectedly. "When will I ever get the chance to see you act in a play ever again?"

Maya stared at Riley, her gaze softening as they exchanged silent words with each other. Lucas didn't know what was being said or what was so serious about Riley's statement, but all of a sudden, he could feel the atmosphere shift from casual fun to something somber and partly grim. Even Farkle's expression was a bit gloomy. Lucas didn't understand what was going on, but he did know that whatever it was that Maya always seemed to be sad about, Farkle and Riley were in on it too.

"I'll do it for you, Honey."

"Yay!" Riley cheered, standing up in a flourish of brown hair and lanky limbs. "Now that that's taken care of, my dad has been texting me nonstop. I can't break curfew or he'll ground me again. I'll see you guys at school when we return from break?"

"I'll take you home, Riley." Farkle rose to his feet as well, stretching languidly to work out the kinks in his arms. "Bye Lucas. Goodnight, Maya. Get some rest."

They headed out of Lucas' room, their departure pretty much ending the night. Lucas found his eyes drifting to Maya, wondering how she was planning to get home since it appeared she'd arrived with the other two. Maya rose to her feet painstakingly slow, wincing as if it pained her body.

"Shit… I shouldn't have stayed in the same position for so long…"

She walked over to his bed, plopping down on it tiredly as she yawned, stretching out her legs and slowly loosening up her limbs and joints. He'd seen her do the same procedure when she would take school breaks in the nurse's office to rejuvenate her strength. Farkle had told him once that Maya's joints were weak and that was why she limped on certain days. Lucas understood her hatred of being so short, but what he didn't get was why she insisted on wearing higher heeled shoes despite her obvious discomfort. He didn't want to ask her though; he had a feeling she would either ignore the question as she was prone to do, or ignore him for an extended period of time.

"You look tired, Maya. Do you need a ride home?"

She shook her head. "I'm kind of too sore to move. I just want to sleep."

Her words had been disrupted by another yawn and Lucas realized she honestly looked way too exhausted. She was already sluggish and starting to look a bit like she was drifting off. He didn't want to make her have to move so she could get home when she already looked like she'd made herself comfortable.

"You know…" Lucas swallowed his nerves, trying to seem nonchalant. "You're welcome to sleep here if you'd like. Use my bed. I can take the couch in the living room."

Maya stared at his covers, chewing on her lower lip and making nervous small circles on the top of the material with her finger.

"Thanks. But I don't sleep well in unfamiliar places." She looked at him, the stormy blue shining with something he couldn't quite place. "Can you sleep with me?"

Lucas' brows rose high on his forehead in surprise as he froze, staring at her and wondering if those words had really just come out of her mouth. Did she know what that sounded like? Sure, he knew what she'd _meant_ , but there were much better ways of expressing that and her comment had thrown his mind back to the dream he'd had.

"…What?"

Her face burned red as she realized how he'd misconstrued her words.

"I don't mean it like that, you pervert! I meant if you could sleep in the same room because I have trouble sleeping in unfamiliar places!"

"No, yeah. I get it." He smiled, trying to mask where his thoughts had nearly taken him. "I'm comforting to you."

" _Familiar_." She asserted in annoyance.

"Whatever you say, Maya." Lucas snorted, gesturing to his dresser. "There are some t-shirts in there if you want to change into something more comfortable to sleep in. I'll be back in a second."

He left his room to give her privacy and headed down the hallway to the storage closet where they kept many of their extra linens. As he began to pull out one of their floor futons and a blanket, his mother emerged from her room to head back to the living room.

"Have all your friends gone home for the evening?"

"Maya is spending the night."

His mother didn't respond for a few seconds, a brow slightly quirked.

"That's the blonde girl, right?"

Lucas nodded, not liking the pensive expression on her face. "She's really tired. So I told her she can stay the night."

"Mmhmm… Which totally explains the change in sheets you're preparing for." Her eyes narrowed. "Well I expect you to be a gentleman with her, Lucas. Your father had the talk with you when you were in junior high, but I would like to reiterate that sex needs to be taken seriously. Make sure you use protection. And whatever is going on in that room later, please don't let me hear it."

He nearly dropped everything in his hands, shocked at his mother's blunt words from her misunderstanding.

"For fuck's sake, Mom!" Lucas prayed his face wasn't bright red. "It's not like that! I'm just letting her sleep over, and I need the sheets because I'll be on the ground."

"In my day, sleep over was what we told our parents to soften the truth of what happened behind closed doors." She winked. "She's a beautiful girl, Lucas."

Lucas rolled his eyes, walking back to his room and ignoring his mother' chuckles behind him. He knew he and Maya weren't doing anything inappropriate, but it still didn't make it any more embarrassing to have his mother insinuate it. He hoped Maya hadn't heard any of that conversation because neither of them had been particularly quiet.

But as he walked in, she was plaiting her hair to prepare for bed, staring at the picture on his desk of him on his favourite horse. She didn't seem to be put off by anything so he set the futon and sheets on the floor beside his bed with a sigh of relief.

"Toss me a pillow?"

Maya leaned over his bed and grabbed one. His gaze momentarily dropped to her backside, and Lucas turned away quickly, clearing his throat and forcing his mind to think about _anything_ not having to do with Maya.

Dammit.

His mother had put thoughts in his head from her commentary, and now he barely had a grip on his wayward thoughts. But he couldn't help it. There was something about Maya lounging on his bed wearing one of his too big for her t-shirts that made his heart pound in his chest.

Was it such a bad thing that he liked the sight?

(Yes, he knew it was. And if Maya found out where his thoughts were drifting, she would pummel him.)

"How can I contact your grandma that you're here?" Lucas said, to find something to take his mind off of the fact that the girl he liked was on his bed wearing his clothes and it was like his dream had come to life. "They'll be worried about you if you don't return home."

"It's okay. They know I'm here. They trust that you'll keep me safe."

He didn't know why, but the thought that he'd gained the trust of Maya's mother and grandmother pleased him. She was blushing though, clearly in embarrassment, and Lucas wondered if maybe they'd given her a hard time about something having to do with him.

"You can keep a lamp on if you're not going to sleep yet," Maya sighed in bliss, crawling under his covers and burrowing herself under it as she rested her cheek on his pillow. "I don't want to inconvenience you."

"Alright."

Lucas cut of his main lights and turned on the lamp on his nightstand before he settled onto his makeshift bed, leaning his back against the wall. He turned to Maya when he felt her gaze on him, but she didn't seem to be seeking anything. She was silent, staring at him with this far off look in her eyes as if she wasn't actually looking at him.

"…Why did you do that to me, Lucas?" she muttered, more to herself than to him. "And now you're being nice."

He looked down at his lap in shame, feeling guilty from the subtle pain he'd heard in her voice. He knew exactly what she was talking about. Treating her like shit in front of the other guys. She'd told him he was incapable of hurting her, but clearly the incident had hurt her. And he couldn't forgive himself for that.

Lucas brought his gaze back to Maya's and found her astutely focused on him, the dazed look in her eyes having disappeared. She wasn't smiling, though there wasn't any anger in her expression either. She was waiting patiently, obviously giving him a chance to state his case once again.

He sighed. "I was scared. I was being a coward and thought I would lose my friends if I was with you. If I was your friend too. That's really all there was to it, and I can't tell you how sorry I—"

"That's dumb, you know? If people can't accept who you like to hang out with and can't tolerate who you choose to be as a person then they're not your friends at all. If they don't like the real you, then they're not right for you."

"You're right. I realize that now, but at the time, I couldn't see it. I made a mistake and it cost our friendship, and I would do anything to get it back."

"You were an asshole to me, Lucas."

"I know, Maya. I'm sorry."

Before he could overthink it, he reached over, cupping Maya's cheek and gently stroking it with his thumb. She placed her hand on top of his, holding his gaze seriously, her eyes dancing with nothing but warmth. He could tell she was mad in some way, but at the same time, he could definitely also see that she wasn't. Just kind of resigned. Or maybe accepting? It was hard to tell since she was doing a pretty good job of hiding most of the emotion in her eyes.

"I thought I could call you my friend and then you hurt me…"

"Maya, you can still call me your friend. I'll always be here. I won't hurt you ever again. I won't let you get hurt ever again."

"I know you won't… for as long as you can…" she said cryptically, that deep melancholy creeping into her gaze again.

" _Always_ , Maya. I'll never let you get hurt again."

"Always…" Maya chuckled mirthlessly, blinking sluggishly. "Always is a pretty strong word. Always… forever… I don't like them."

Lucas frowned, confused and wondering if this was just Maya's fatigued state talking because he didn't understand what she was talking about at all.

"Maya…"

"…why am I not mad at you anymore? I can't stand you, Huckleberry," she suddenly said, brushing his hand off her face and turning so she was facing the ceiling.

He smiled at hearing the nickname. It was back. The warmth in her tone.

"You irritate me, and I still haven't forgiven you for doing that to me," Maya continued. "But I also know how scared you are. You're insecure of yourself. And I can't blame you for acting as you did. You obviously weren't ready to let go of your past, and I pushed you before you were at that point. Not everybody can charge ahead fearlessly and recklessly with no care for the future. Then again… I've never been one to care about the future. Never had hope in it."

She was rambling, but what she'd said and her tone was kind of alarming. Like she'd given up. But whatever she had given up on, she clearly used to have hope for it. And Lucas had a snaking and frightening suspicion that it was _life_ she had given up on.

"Maya, why do you make comments like that? Like the future doesn't matter."

"Because it doesn't," she said on autopilot, resting both hands on her abdomen and sighing deeply. "Not for me, anyway."

"What do you mean? If you want to go to college, just apply. There's no reason to let anything hold you back. Do you really want to regret not even giving it a try?"

Maya snorted. "If only it were as simple as college…"

"If it's not college, then can you please just tell me what you're talking about so I can understand?" Lucas asked earnestly. "I want to help you in any way I can, but if I don't know what's going on, I can't help you, can I?"

She rolled back over so she was facing him and to his shock, Lucas saw that past the sleepy haze was a pronounced sorrow. One that was mingled with despair and a hopelessness that made chills go down his back. And above all that, he could see a fear he knew she normally kept hidden that frightened him to his core. He knew exactly what she was conveying in her gaze.

Whatever the hell was going on with her that she was keeping a secret, there was nothing he could do to help her.

"…Maya? What's going on with you?" he asked softly.

She shook her head, but reached towards him, and he automatically took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers and hoping that even if a minimal amount, he was giving Maya some comfort to ease her fears.

"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind… C.S. Lewis," she murmured sleepily, her eyes drifting shut and breathing slow. "Never forget that, Lucas. You'll need it one day…since I'm letting you back in my life…"

"Maya? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Your pillow smells like you, Lucas…" she mumbled, her words slurred. Clearly she had already entered dreamscape. "It's… nice… comforting…"

Her breathing grew heavier, her hand clasped in his as she drifted off to sleep. Lucas watched Maya, feeling like he'd been swept up in a whirlwind. He wished he hadn't broken her trust. Maybe if he hadn't, he could have confessed to her by now. He could have told her how he felt, how important she was to him for some strange reason. She was abrasive and sometimes plain bitchy for no reason, and everything about her was complicated, yet being next to her, he never wanted to leave her side.

What Lucas felt for her was more intense than he'd originally thought when he'd had his epiphany a few evenings before. He supposed he had never realized it because he'd been so tethered to his old life that he never saw how much he needed her. Maybe he was being cheesy and maybe he was young and possibly naïve in his own way, but all he could think about in that one moment was that he _knew_ Maya Hart was the one.

He was in it all the way. If he was going to be part of her life, he was going to show her he was there to stay for good. He was going to knock down all her walls and get her to open up to him and trust him again. He was going to find out the mystery of Maya Hart. And then he was going to tell her how he felt about her.

He brought their conjoined hands up to his lips and kissed her hand gently.

"Goodnight Maya," he murmured softly.

Her lips curved up into a small smile as she sighed in her sleep.


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: Proxy chapter until I revise and tweak it up. There was another way to write this, buuuut it didn't work out the way I wanted it to, so the start is abrupt because I cut out most of the first section. Gonna fix it eventually. In the meantime, please accept this chapter lol. I'm sowwy :3  
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 **Thank you for the kind reviews. You all are so sweet and it means a lot to me! I know updating this has been ups and downs and a lot of long pauses, but through it all, you guys have given me time to work out the kinks and get my act together. Thank you so much, loves! :3  
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 **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.**

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When Lucas had originally heard a bit of Maya's singing in the drama room so many weeks ago, he hadn't realized how amazing her voice truly was. The little snippet he had heard was nowhere near close to the breathtaking quality of her singing when she put her heart into it.

It was clearly resonating with everyone watching the play, nurses and children alike. Everyone's rapt attention was stuck on Maya, pouring her heart out into the song, mesmerizing the room. Lucas himself was struck silent, listening to her and feeling the pain in her voice. He didn't know why, but he could feel the sorrow and despair underlying her words. It was _heartbreaking_. And he knew he wasn't the only one who thought that. He saw a couple nurses wiping their eyes of tears. And Riley herself was misty eyed, leaning her head on Farkle's shoulder and clearly trying to keep herself from sobbing.

It was fascinating to Lucas how radiant she was up in her makeshift tower, a single spotlight on her, the light almost forming a halo on her head. She was unbelievably beautiful, and Lucas felt his heart racing in his chest as he watched her. More than ever before, Lucas wanted to tell her how he truly felt about her. He wanted to alleviate the heartache lingering in her words.

Maya sang the last few notes of the song to shocked silence in the room before glancing at him with a soft smile. Her eyes were glassy with some unguarded emotion, and Lucas found himself frozen in place. Unable to do anything but stare at her in awe and feeling like she'd poured her heart out to him. Like in her own way, she'd just revealed everything in her life that had been a source of her melancholy.

He didn't know how long they'd been standing there—it felt like it'd been an eternity—but then Maya's expression changed, and her brows furrowed slightly in confusion. She gave him an expectant look, raising a brow at him and after a second, Lucas realized they were still in the middle of the play. He subtly looked around. The other castmates were giving him the same expectant look. It was clearly his line, but he couldn't remember what he was supposed to be saying.

" _Tower_." Farkle subtly coughed inconspicuously in his hand so only Lucas could hear it.

Snapping out of his trance, Lucas cleared his throat and approached the tower, gazing up at Maya like the lovestruck prince he was acting the part of.

(Not that it was an act at all, to be honest).

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!"

~.~.~

"You kids did an absolutely amazing job," Nurse Joy complimented. "It was a fantastic play. The kids loved it."

"I'm glad they did." Maya smiled happily, nudging Lucas' arm. "It was all his idea."

Lucas rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. "None of this would have been possible without all of us to make it happen though."

Nurse Joy chuckled. "Well you and your friends are incredible for doing this for the hospital. I can't thank you enough for giving the kids some joy."

He was glad they had enjoyed themselves. These kids had it hard, and knowing he'd been a part of the joy they'd experienced today—even if only for a little while—gave him a rush so powerful, better than any of the ones he'd experienced in his delinquent days.

Disregarding Lucas' near cue miss, the play had gone without a hitch. Riley had played the evil witch well, though knowing her personality, it had been hard for anyone to take her seriously. And Farkle as a talking horse had made them laugh and laugh. And Maya, despite having had reservations being the princess, honestly fit the role to a T. The kids had been ecstatic to see her as the heroine. They'd all been taking so many pictures with the children after the play, letting them live out some of their fantasies.

"Look at them," Maya said fondly as they walked slowly through the throng of kids and nurses in the waiting room, playing and chatting. "They all look so happy. I'm glad we did this."

"Me too," he said, watching proudly as Alex gave Nadia a rose, a bright red blush on his chubby cheeks. He'd taught him well. She took it with a shy smile before leaning forward and dropping a soft peck on his lips. Alex turned tomato red, looking like he was about to faint. He gave Lucas a thumbs up and Lucas chuckled to himself. "They deserve to be happy."

Nadia moved through the small crowds over to the both of them, a bright, cheerful smile on her face. A woman who looked almost the spitting image of Nadia right down to the amber hue in her eyes trailed beside her. She was smiling as well, but Lucas could see something worn out and somber in her gaze, almost resigned. Kind of like the look that was always present in Katy's eyes whenever he saw her.

"Mama, Mama!" Nadia exclaimed, tugging on her sleeve. "Can you take a picture of me with Maya and Lucas? I want to show Sofia that I met a real live prince and princess!"

Her mother chuckled, ruffling her hair. "If they're okay with it."

"It's not a problem at all." Maya reached out to Nadia and the girl took her hand, giggling as Maya spun Nadia into her and wrapped her arm around her. "Your older sister is going to be so jealous that you got to meet a _real_ prince and princess."

"You and the prince have to hold hands though!"

Maya's cheeks flushed a little red in surprise, and she briefly frowned, glancing at Lucas and then averting her gaze quickly. Lucas could have sworn he saw Nadia wink at him, but he smirked, taking Maya's free hand in his and lacing his fingers with hers. She shot him a warning look, an embarrassed blush adorning her face, but he didn't let go, unfazed by it and mentally celebrating the fact that she didn't try to get out of his hold.

Once Nadia's mother had taken the picture, Nadia turned around and hugged Maya, burying her face in her chest and squeezing her tight. Maya was a little caught off guard by the action, but smoothed down the back of her hair, a serene look on her face as she stared down affectionately at the girl.

"Maya, I'm leaving the hospital tonight…" Nadia muttered after she pulled away, staring up at Maya. "My treatment has been completed."

"You're cured?" Maya asked, a hopeful smile on her face. "Officially?"

Nadia glanced briefly at Lucas, and he knew what she was conveying to him with her stare. She was asking him not to reveal the truth to Maya. He nodded subtly, and she turned back to Maya, resting her chin against her with a brilliant smile on her face. Lucas looked away, feeling guilty. Maya cared so much for Nadia. And she wouldn't even know that she would never see the young girl again because her time was almost up.

"I… I am." Tears pooled on Nadia's lower eyelid, her lower lip quivering though she tried to maintain her smile. "I… I'm moving to California with my family, Maya."

"Hey. Don't cry." Maya gently wiped a lone tear tumbling down her cheek. "It's not like we'll never see each other again. You can always come back and visit me whenever you want."

"Will you still be here if I visit?" Nadia asked, sounding a little worried. "Can you stay?"

Lucas expected Maya to answer immediately, but her smile slipped a little bit before she could plaster it back on her face. But Lucas could tell the cheer in her eyes had already been replaced by that sorrow that seemed to embody her entire being whenever he looked into her eyes.

"I'll do my best to stay until May," she responded quietly, though there was no confidence in her words.

He frowned in alarm, staring at Maya in confusion by her statement. Until May? Was Maya moving after high school ended? She caught his look and through her expression, Lucas could tell that this was another thing she didn't want him to ask about. He mentally added it to his list of mysteries about Maya that he'd resolved to solve.

"You promise?" Nadia choked up, her nose starting to run as she struggled to keep her tears at bay. "You'll be here, and I can visit you whenever I want?"

"I promise," Maya said softly, stroking her cheek gently, the warm smile never drifting from her face.

"I love you, Maya."

"I love you too, Princess Nadia."

She hugged her tighter, closing her eyes and resting her forehead against Maya's chest as her breathing grew jagged from her soft crying. They stood there in each other's embrace, Maya rocking the girl gently and soothing her quiet weeping.

"Nadia," her mother said tenderly, calling her attention. "Time to go, sweetie. Say goodbye to your friends."

"See you later, Maya." She let go of her and gave Lucas a tight hug. "Goodbye, Prince Charming. Try not to make your girlfriend mad all the time."

"I'll do my best," Lucas responded at the same time Maya said, "I'm not his girlfriend, Nadia!"

With those words, she ran back over to her mother, giggling and taking her hand as they walked away. Lucas and Maya watched her go in silence, the room surprisingly quiet despite all the chatter around them and the bustling as the nurses began to herd the children back to their rooms. Nadia turned around one last time, her eyes red from her tears as she waved at them from a distance. Maya beamed, lifting her hand and waving as well.

As Nadia disappeared around the corner with her mother, Maya slowed her waving until she'd stopped entirely, her arm slowly dropping back down to her side as she stared at the place where the girl had left. Lucas thought he imagined the first sniffle. But when he heard it again, he looked down at Maya and saw that her eyes had welled with tears and her shoulders were shaking. She inhaled jerkily, a soft whimper leaving her lips.

"She's not going to make it, is she?" Maya whispered, the pain in her voice nearly breaking Lucas' heart.

Lucas didn't know what to say. It was the truth.

"That's how it works," Maya continued, her voice cracking, tears dropping from her eyes and trailing down her face. "They leave the hospital when the treatment no longer works. When they don't get cured and don't have long to live."

"…Why didn't you tell her that you know?"

"Because she'd worry about me. And then she wouldn't be able to go in peace."

Her voice broke as she said the last words, and Maya started sobbing heavily. He didn't say anything; just came around to her front and pulled her gently forward. She fell against him, wailing harshly, gripping his shirt with shaking hands. Lucas rubbed her back gently to console her, hoping in some way, he was helping her and hoping that Nadia's last month could be as peaceful, carefree, and joyful as possible.

~.~.~

"Sorry about being emotional," Maya muttered, stuffing down one of the costumes further into the costume bag when it almost fell.

"No, I get it. It must be hard," Lucas replied, holding the door open for her as they made their way to the parking lot of the hospital. "Nadia told me you've been her big sister since she got to the hospital. I'm sorry."

They stopped by his truck where they had loaded up the other set pieces. Evening had long fallen, and Lucas had promised Farkle and Riley that he and Maya would clean up and take care of the rest. The two had left to go home, bidding the others farewell. It'd taken quite a few trips, but they'd managed to get everything in his car to be returned to school the next day.

Up until then though, Maya had refused to talk about her small break down, pretending it hadn't even happened it seemed. She'd seemed a little embarrassed about it, and Lucas could tell she wasn't one to cry in front of others or show weakness. It made him wonder how many nights she must have spent crying on her own, no one to comfort her. In a way, he felt privileged that she'd trusted him enough and let her guard down in front of him for a moment.

"Again with the apologies, Huckleberry?" Maya smiled slightly, poking him in the abdomen as she turned to face him. "But thank you for doing this. I'm glad she was able to leave the hospital with a good memory. And I'm glad all the other kids had fun too."

"I'm glad too," Lucas mused, taking the heavy bag of costumes from Maya and setting it in between two of the sets.

He lifted the set piece he'd rested beside him and placed it carefully as well, being cautious to make sure it wouldn't fly out or something while he was driving. The last he wanted was to be a hazard to the people in the street.

"So where to?" he asked. "Are you hungry?"

Maya shook her head, though she gave him a grateful smile. "Honestly, I kind of want to go home and spend time with my family right now. I think my mom doesn't have her second job today."

"Alright. To your place it is." He shut the back of his truck's trunk, wiping his hands of the bit of dust. "Just so you know, the offer still stands if you get hungry along the way."

"I'll keep that in mind…" She made as if to leave, but then paused, contemplating him for a moment with a pensive expression on her face. "You know… I thought I could still be mad at you, but after tonight, I don't think I can anymore."

The corner of her lips lifted into a real smile, one that reached her dancing eyes and once again, Lucas felt his pulse racing. Every time she smiled, he fell for her more and more, reminded yet again of how special she was to him.

"Lucas, I forgive you for being an asshole," Maya stated. "Thank you for showing me that it wasn't a mistake to let you back into my life."

She fell silent, blinking up at him and smiling happily. He held her gaze, his heartbeat drumming in his ears.

And without thinking about it, he cupped her face in his hands and leaned down, pressing his lips to hers. Maya inhaled sharply, her shoulders tensing immediately. Her eyes widened and her breathing stalled for a few seconds as she went perfectly still.

But in the next second, she planted her hands on his chest and shoved him away from her as hard as she could.

Lucas stumbled a bit backwards, surprised by her reaction, but more than that, by the terrified look on her face. She looked as if he had slapped her, her fingers gingerly touching her lips. She slowly brought her gleaming gaze up to his, a dangerous look creeping into them.

"Maya—"

"What the fuck was that?!" She pushed him again for good measure, her eyes glinting with something akin to absolute disgust.

"I-I'm sorry." He put his hands up in apology, the words spilling from his lips in confusion. "I-I just thought…"

"You thought what?" Maya wiped her mouth roughly with sleeve. "That it was okay for you to snag yourself a reward just because I forgave you?!"

Lucas' brows rose in alarm. "No! That's not it—"

"What the hell do you take me for anyway?!" she screamed, glaring at him.

He didn't know what had her so angry with him, but clearly she was misunderstanding something. He'd kissed her because he liked her.

"Maya, wait." Lucas swallowed thickly, trying to get her to understand. This situation was quickly devolving into his worst nightmare. When he'd kissed her, he hadn't expected that kind of reaction. Hell, he'd even thought for a moment she would reciprocate. Clearly he'd been wrong. "I promise that's not what I—"

"Take me home," she growled. "Right now."

Maya turned away from him to get into the truck, the expression on her face completely guarded and closed off. Her eyes were cold as ice. Even worse than when he'd betrayed her trust. She wasn't going to listen to anything he tried to say anymore.

The ride back to her place was entirely silent, Maya seething in the seat, a death glare on her face and teeth clenched tight. She didn't look at him at all, staring dead ahead and tapping her foot impatiently as he drove through the roads.

"Maya…" he started, trying to get her to look at him, pay attention to him, listen to him. _Anything_.

She made no indication whatsoever that she acknowledged him, remaining perfectly still. And Lucas knew he'd lost her _again_. Only this time, he had a feeling he'd lost her for good.

He stopped in front of her apartment and was on the verge of exiting his car so he could walk her to her door, but she turned and gave him such a dirty look, it stopped him right in his tracks.

"Don't you dare walk me up," she spat, her lip curled in disgust. "And don't ever come back here again, got that?"

He could say nothing nor do anything as she hopped out of his truck and slammed the door shut. She stormed away into her building, not turning back once as she left. She hadn't even said goodbye.

Lucas groaned, dropping his head onto the steering wheel repeatedly. He was such an idiot. He wanted to beat himself up so bad for messing up that badly. Right when things between them had finally gotten patched up and returned to a semblance of normalcy, he just had to try his luck and ruined their relationship again. By kissing her no less! Why couldn't he be smart and use his words and tell her how much she meant to him? Instead, he'd made her uncomfortable and ruined her trust in him yet again. There was no way he would ever get the chance to confess now.

"Nice move, you dumbass…"


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: Yay! And now we've reached the halfway point of this story! xD Part II of the story starts next chapter!  
**

 **I appreciate your support! Thank you for reading this story despite how long it is taking me to write! You guys are so sweet and reading your reviews always brings a smile to my face! :3  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.**

* * *

Just like when Lucas betrayed her trust, Maya made good on her promise not to speak to him, only now it was ten times worse. She made no contact with him whatsoever. But it wasn't even that. Even spots that Maya used to frequent were completely vacant, probably because she knew Lucas would head over there to try to find her. He got the feeling that she was avoiding him completely, probably having decided not to give him the time of day.

And it stung.

Yes, he knew it was his fault and it probably hadn't been the best idea to up and kiss Maya unannounced, especially considering how volatile a personality she had. But there was just something about her that so beautiful, something about her smile that was so heartpounding that he hadn't been able to think. His mind had told him to go for it and he had, to disastrous results.

The part that sucked so bad was that he just wanted the chance to see her again to make amends. He just wanted to apologize for kissing her without her permission. He knew he'd messed up any and all chances with her, but it wouldn't sit well with him if he didn't get the opportunity to at least apologize to her for his behaviour.

It'd been a couple days since the disaster at the hospital, and Maya was virtually non-existent now. He saw Riley and Farkle around and Riley still waved and said hello, giggling like she knew some secret he didn't, but Farkle would always give him this disdainful look.

But no sign of Maya.

There was only so much avoiding he could deal with with Maya and if he let her have her way, he would never get the chance to try to fix things and they would never get the chance to make up. And he didn't want that.

He resolved to find her that day, to make sure he had a chance to apologize. He knew she valued actions more than words and his constant apologies were probably wearing thin by now, but it was the only way he could think of to show her how sorry he was over what he'd done. He didn't regret it. Kissing Maya was a dream come true, but he did regret what it had done to their relationship.

Lucas was surprised to find the hallways fairly bare considering it was the time most upperclassmen went to lunch, but as he walked towards the cafeteria, the corridor was pretty empty. He frowned in confusion until he heard the loud clacking of heels on the tiles coming in his direction.

To his surprise, Riley raced around the corner, her face totally flushed and completely out of breath.

"Lucas!" she exclaimed when she saw him, coming to an abrupt stop in front of him and bending over, resting her hands on her knees as she struggled to catch her breath. "Lucas, thank goodness you're here!"

"Riley? What's wrong?" he said in alarm when she straightened up and gave him a pleading look.

The absolute fear in her eyes made alarm bells ring in the back of his mind. And even without her saying anything, he knew this was about Maya.

"What happened to Maya?" he asked, feeling himself panic a bit. "Is she okay?"

"Lucas, it's horrible! Help Maya!" Riley cried, her eyes pooling with tears. "It's bad! Brandon came over to our lunch table and—"

That was all Lucas needed to hear.

He raced through the corridor as fast as he could, a cold chill running down his back as he tried to hurry to the cafeteria. Whatever was going on, he desperately hoped he could get there quick enough to help her. Brandon had it out for him, and Lucas was well aware that since he'd left the group, nothing bad had happened to him yet. There was no way this wasn't a coincidence.

This was all Lucas' fault. Thanks to him not being around Maya these past few days, no doubt Brandon figured it was a good opportunity for him to strike back. Lucas knew how he operated, and there was no way this wasn't his ploy for revenge.

When he finally got to the cafeteria, the room was completely hushed, people at their tables watching the turmoil anxiously. Maya was still sitting at the table, Farkle standing behind her with his hand protectively on her shoulder. And Brandon was standing in front of them both, looking at Maya with a sneer on his lips and holding a cellphone in his hands. Some of Lucas' old friends were in various places surrounding the area, uneasy looks on some of their faces, smirks on others'.

Lucas took a deep breath, moving right past some people who were standing in the way and making his way over to the confrontation. Maya stared at him, her eyes wide and the trepidation in her gaze making his stomach twist in knots. Despite her current ire towards him, he could see her eyes soften in relief when they made eye contact.

"Well, well. If it isn't your little _boyfriend_. Be careful Hart. Better keep Friar on a leash otherwise my finger might slip," Brandon said, laughing cruelly.

Maya's lip curled in disgust, but she said nothing, her hand curling into a fist as she glared angrily at him. Lucas sat down across from her, glancing at the somber Farkle before focusing his attention on Maya.

"Maya, are you okay?" Lucas said, reaching out and setting his hand on hers. "What happened?"

She unfolded her hand and clasped his, and he frowned when he could feel her hand trembling. He couldn't necessarily tell if it was because she was furious, but her anger was infused with a fear in her gaze that made his jaw clench. Farkle gave her a comforting squeeze on her shoulder.

What the hell had Brandon done to her?

"I…" She sighed. "I used to date Brandon back in early high school."

Lucas' face fell. He had suspected that to be the case somehow, though he'd desperately hoped it wasn't true. But from the way Brandon talked about her, it made a lot of sense now.

"He wanted to go farther than I was ready…"

"Did he…?" Lucas asked, feeling his rage boil up inside him.

If Brandon did anything to Maya to hurt her, Lucas would kill him.

"No." She shook her head, chewing on her lower lip and giving Riley a slight, reassuring smile when the brunette finally arrived back in the cafeteria, standing beside Farkle and wrapping her arms around his in fright. "I said no and I got dumped right after that and then stupidly, I tried to get him back when he said he would take me back if I sent him some nudes. So I did."

"Shit…" Lucas closed his eyes with a sigh. "And now he's threatening to send them out to the whole school?"

"The internet," Maya said weakly, her voice wavering as she stared down at the table. "My alternative is to give him a blowjob in front of everyone."

"What…?" he muttered, the word almost getting caught in his throat.

Lucas' heart stopped and his gaze went dark, teeth grit as he struggled to keep his anger at bay. How could he do something like that? How could Brandon ever think it was okay to dehumanize someone in such a disgusting way?

She was trying to put on a brave face, but Lucas could feel and see just how terrified she was. Maya was strong, of that he had no doubt, but this was too much for _anyone_ to handle.

Brandon was dead.

"Why did you try so hard to get him back?" he growled, his fury rising from the ultimatum Brandon had given her. "He wasn't worth it if those were the kind of terms he gave you to get back together."

Maya didn't respond, her expression turning almost desperate and anxious. Lucas realized whatever her reasoning was, it was tied to whatever secret Maya was keeping and was not something she was ready to share.

"Lucas… that's not important," Riley said quickly, putting her hand on Maya's other shoulder.

"So what are you going to do about this, eh Gangbanger?" Brandon called out patronizingly. "Make up your mind; I don't have all day, you know? This dick's not going to suck itself."

Lucas fought to ignore the cloying tone of Mitch and Jackson laughing in the background.

"Brandon…" Lucas heard Billy say. "Man, this isn't funny…"

"Shut up, Ross."

"Why does he call you a gangbanger?" Lucas said lowly, trying to maintain his focus on Maya.

"You're shaking, Lucas," Maya said in alarm.

" _Why_ does he call you a gangbanger?" he repeated through grit teeth, a fire raging in his mind.

"One of my mom's regular clients is a man in a biker gang. One time, my mom was ill so he brought her home. And Brandon saw and thought it would be funny to spread that rumour."

"This happened while you were dating?"

Maya nodded dejectedly. "I knew he wasn't a good guy, but I just…"

The slump of Maya's shoulders, the sadness in her gaze, the pain he could feel rolling off of her in waves, the heartache in her tone, it broke his heart.

And that was it.

He'd let Brandon's bullshit go on for long enough. It was time to do what he should have done from day one. He was going to pay.

Lucas stood up slowly, his fists clenched so tightly, he was certain he was going to break through the skin with his nails. "I'll be back."

"What are you about to do?" Maya asked in concern, staring up at him wide eyed. "Lucas, what are you doing?"

He ignored her, his brows etched in a scowl as he turned around to face Brandon, stalking slowly over to him, his breathing coming out short and angry. A hushed lull fell over the cafeteria, everyone waiting with baited breath, the whole room prickling with tension as they stared in anticipation of the brewing confrontation.

"Can I help you, Friar?" Brandon asked with a raised eyebrow when Lucas was right in front of him.

"You think this funny?" Lucas snarled, shoving him into the wall hard, gripping his collar and glowering at him.

"Lucas, _don't_!" Maya shouted, rising from the table in alarm.

"Careful, Friar." Brandon's gaze turned menacing, his eyes glinting maliciously. "You make any wrong moves and she's exposed."

"How could you do that to her?! You sick bastard!" Lucas shouted, throwing a hand back and gesturing to Maya. "Do you have any idea what she's been through?! Her life isn't a game!"

Brandon shrugged indifferently. "The weak get stepped on, the strong survive. You get what it is."

His eyes narrowed. " _No_ , I don't."

"What do you care?" Brandon scoffed, giving Maya a look of disgust out of the corner of his eye. "You were the one that said you were only hanging out with her to get in her pants."

Lucas' face slackened, his stomach dropping at the reminder of his horrible words the day he hurt Maya. He glanced at Maya briefly, grimacing apologetically. She was staring at the ground, a frown on her face, and Lucas wanted to bash his head into a wall for ever saying that in the first place.

"I'm not," Lucas responded. "Get rid of the photos, Brandon. Why are you trying to hurt her when she never did anything to you?"

"She's just collateral damage. If this is the best way to fuck with you, then so be it," he muttered darkly.

"You're a piece of shit."

"You're _pathetic_. Whipped as hell."

"Brandon, you're going too far," Zay said, staring at the two of them, his expression a bit appalled.

"Shut the fuck up," he sneered. "You used to be cool, Friar, like one of us, but you're nothing but a little lame ass shit now."

"Lucas, it's okay," Maya said quietly, though her voice cracked midway through her words and he caught her sniffle. "Just let him do what he wants with the pictures. It's not worth it."

Lucas took a deep breath, letting it out slowly to try to calm himself down. If he didn't chill out, he would definitely snap and fighting in school would result in his expulsion. There had to be some other way to stop this from happening without resorting to violence.

"See? Whipped." Brandon grinned nastily, lowering his voice to a mere whisper so only Lucas could hear. "Let me let you in on a little secret, Friar. When you stick your finger up in Maya, she makes this little noise. This soft little whimper and grabs your hair like she just can't get enough. You know what I'm talking about? Oh wait, you don't? You haven't actually been down there yet, have you? Well I have. Plenty of times. And let me tell you, it's definitely—"

Lucas saw _red_.

He punched him right in the face, no longer caring about his fate. Fuck this. Brandon was going down.

"Lucas!" someone shouted.

Lucas ignored the warning, breathing hard as he stalked towards Brandon who'd stumbled sideways, wiping his nose of the trickle of blood. Nothing was registering in his mind. The people shouting in surprise, someone yelling at him to stop. It was all a blur and the only thing he could think about was the fact that he was going to rip Brandon's dumb smirk right off his fucking face.

Brandon straightened, a threatening smirk on his face. "Hope you enjoy your girlfriend's body being on display for everyone in the world."

Before Brandon could even do anything, Lucas pounced, bodily tackling him to the ground to the gasps of the patrons of the cafeteria. People stood up, trying to catch a view of the fight as Lucas grappled with Brandon, trying to wrestle the phone out of his hand. The phone slipped from Brandon's hand and slid across the ground near Riley's feet. Gasping, she quickly stomped on it hard several times with her heels, crushing it and making sure to break it.

Brandon wrapped his hands around Lucas' neck, nearly trying to choke him as they tousled on the ground, Lucas trying to break the hold. He managed to pin Brandon to the ground, sitting on top of him and smashing his fists into his face again and again and again, making sure he could feel his fury, all his frustration, all his anger. He felt a crack under his hand at some point and Brandon cried out in pain, but he didn't care, hitting him over and over and over, wanting nothing more than to release all his anger on this piece of shit of a human being.

Someone was shouting in the distance, maybe several people, but Lucas ignored it. The only thing on his mind was making Brandon pay.

"…cas!"

Lucas reared his fist back to throw one more punch when small hands suddenly stopped his fist, wrapping gently around his wrist and holding it back from moving.

"…ucas!"

Slowly, he registered that Maya's soft murmur was drifting in his ears. He sat up straight, blinking in surprise and snapping out of his odd trance. He stared down at Brandon, coughing, blood painting his teeth and mouth, trailing from his nose that was clearly bent out of shape, his split eyebrow and lip. One of his eyes was puffy and half closed. He was already sporting pretty nasty discolouration along various places on his face.

" _Lucas_ , calm down," she murmured calmly, turning his face so they are eye to eye. "Look at me."

He swallowed thickly, holding her gaze, warm and comforting, and he knew he never wanted to see grief in those eyes again. Not from him, not from anyone else.

"Maya…"

"Focus on me." She rested her forehead against his, closing her eyes and stroking his cheeks gently. "Breathe with me."

He closed his eyes, focusing on her and slowly inhaling that comforting scent of peach. He focused on her warm hands on his face, matching his breathing with hers and slowly, he could feel his rage subside and his pulse slow. His body untensed as he calmed down. Once he knew he was calm, he reached up and gently grasped her wrists, opening his eyes and meeting the warm, dancing blue-gray eyes.

"You're not going to go on another rampage are you?"

"…I think I'm good," Lucas said.

He stood up slowly, already missing the warmth from Maya's hands when they slid off his face. The entire cafeteria was staring at him silently in shock, many of them in fright. Even Riley and Farkle were staring at him anxiously, their hands clasped together, clearly frightened by his rage.

Lucas' hands shook from pain and he stared down at the raw, split skin of his knucles. He had beaten the shit out of Brandon. He'd let his temper get the best of him and hurt someone. And now that he thought about what he'd been on the verge of doing, it didn't leave a good feeling in the pit of his stomach at all.

What the hell had he just done?

Brandon rose shakily to his feet, spitting out about a mouthful of blood onto the floor and wiping his bloody nose.

"You're fucking crazy! Do you guys see this?" Brandon shouted, pointing to his face. "He tried to kill me. You're _psychotic_. You should be in jail or some mental ward!"

Lucas stood in front of Maya protectively, narrowing his eyes. "What did you expect when you provoked me using Maya?"

The air was thick with tension, nobody moving and nobody sure of what to do.

A few seconds later, Hearst suddenly burst through the cafeteria, his eyes roving around the room and trying to assess the situation.

"What the hell is going on?!" he barked. "I want answer and I want them now!"

"Friar's a maniac!" Brandon spat, cringing in pain as he held his busted nose. "He fucking broke my nose!"

"Is that true, Lucas?" Mr. Hearst questioned, a disappointed look on his face as he stared at Lucas, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Lucas sighed, knowing he was probably about to get expelled and sent to jail. His high school, college, and probably potential professional careers were officially over, but strangely, he was at peace. It didn't matter as long as Maya was happy and safe. If he had to deal with being in jail to atone for this, that was fine. He would accept the consequences of his actions. After all, it had been his decision to get in a fight. If he got expelled now, so be it.

But at least Maya was okay.

Lucas opened his mouth to respond honestly and reveal the truth when Maya suddenly pushed past Lucas and stood between him and the principal, her hands on her hips as she glowered at Brandon.

"Lucas didn't do shit to you, you turd faced piece of trash."

Brandon gave her a vicious look, but she held her ground, refusing to budge.

"You're a lying _cunt_ ," he spat sharply.

"Can somebody please tell me what the truth is?!" Hearst bellowed in exasperation. "No more games!"

"Lucas, didn't do that to Brandon," Farkle responded evenly, a steely resolve in his expression as he moved beside Maya, shielding Lucas from the principal.

"Yeah. Lucas didn't do anything," Riley agreed, moving beside Farkle and sticking her tongue out at Brandon. "Brandon is lying."

Lucas stared at the three of them in shock as they kept their gazes on Hearst, determination on their features. They had lied for him to protect him. Despite his horrible behaviour and asshole tendencies and even now, being revealed as the monster he probably was, they still stuck by his side and defended him.

"I'm lying, my ass!" Brandon shouted, gesturing to Lucas' side. "That's _my_ blood on his fucking knuckles!"

"That's not any proof of violence towards you," Farkle remarked coldly. "Lucas was trying to help Maya get her locker open since the knob was jammed and bruised his fists punching it."

Hearst stared at them, his brows furrowed incredulously.

"The nerdy guy is right." Zay stepped forward. "Nothing happened, sir."

They all turned to Zay in surprise and he smiled at them slightly, something small but regretful before it disappeared as quickly as it came.

Brandon glared at him. "You say when I'm standing here with a fucking busted nose and blood all over my face."

"So you tripped and banged your face on a table," Billy said sharply, giving him a dirty look. "Unless you want to explain what you were looking at _on your phone_ that made you trip in the first place?"

Brandon clammed up, though he grit his teeth, growling under his breath.

"We were just about to take him to the nurse when you came, Mr. Hearst," Missy muttered, picking at her fingernails. "So if you'll excuse us…"

Billy and Mitch flanked Brandon, tugging his arms onto their shoulders to help him as their little entourage began to make their way out of the cafeteria. Brandon groaned in pain with every step they took out. As they passed by Lucas, Billy gave him a brief, but apologetic look and Zay looked a little sheepish as he glanced at them before staring at the ground in remorse. They continued on, the rest of them following behind him until they were out of the room.

"Everyone get back to lunch! This thing, whatever it was is over." People sat back down, pretending to focus on their lunch as the tension wound down. Hearst turned back to Lucas, shaking his head in disdain. Maya slipped her hand into his, lacing their fingers together and Lucas gave her a soft squeeze in appreciation. "Mr. Friar. You seem to have found some more loyal friends who will protect you, but consider this your only lucky break. I'm not stupid. I know exactly what happened here. I mean it. This is your final warning. I'm really keeping my eye on you the rest of the year. If you cause any trouble again, I'll have no choice but to call the police."

"I understand, sir."

Hearst nodded, turning to leave the cafeteria. "Harley, clean this up please."

"Goddamn… if it's not paint on my walls, it's blood on my motherfucking floors," Harley muttered as he rolled over the cart with his cleaning products past the students to the stains of blood on the ground. As he passed by Lucas, he sighed. "Trouble seems to follow you around everywhere, kid."

As the situation diffused and things began to return to normal for lunch, students tittered to each other, staring at them and whispering about what just happened.

"Let's take you outside for some fresh air and to cool off a bit," Maya said, tugging on Lucas' arm to follow her as she began walking out the side doors of the cafeteria. "We'll be right back, Farks."

People fell silent as he and Maya passed by them, staring at him in fright and some with utterly appalled looks. His reputation was absolutely totally trashed now, but for some reason, he felt like grinning because Maya was talking to him again.

They walked to the picnic benches outside and he sat down on one, rubbing his face with his hands, watching as the soft puffs of visible air evaporated after a few seconds. Maya stood in front of him not saying anything for several seconds, and he suspected she wasn't pleased. Sure enough, when he glanced up at her, her lips were pursed in disdain.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"…You're welcome," he muttered, rolling his eyes and already expecting her backlash.

"You could have seriously jeopardized your entire future, not to mention the fact that you could have gotten seriously hurt in a fight with Brandon, Lucas. Do you ever stop to actually _think_ about the damn consequences of the actions you take? You have a brain. Use it next time! You're so lucky things went well for you, but what if they hadn't, huh? What would have been your plan then? You're too reckless!"

"Shut up," Lucas said, scowling at her. One of Maya's brow rose dangerously, but he wasn't deterred by the glint in her eyes. "I did it because I can't stand to see you hurt. Who the hell cares about consequences? He disrespected you and treated you like crap and he needed to pay. There was nothing _to_ think about."

Maya sighed, running a hand through her hair, though the corners of her lips tugged up into a small, appreciative smile.

"I'm always going to get hurt, Lucas. You can't make the world a place that doesn't have pain. That's ridiculous, and you can't shelter me from pain. It's going to happen either way."

"But I want to," he said earnestly, taking her hands and ignoring the painful feeling of the busted skin of his hands being tugged. "I want to so bad."

"It's not going to happen. I appreciate it, but you have to experience some pain in life to grow, you know?"

" _Some_ pain. Not pain all the time. Why does it always seem like the worst things in life always happen to you?"

Maya shrugged. "Maybe because I don't deserve good things."

"Never say that again." He frowned. "After all you've been through, you deserve the best. And about the getting in your pants thing, I want you to know I only said that because—"

"We've already established you're a coward, Huckleberry," she said playfully, cutting him off gently. "I'm not mad. In fact, I'm kind of flattered. For your friends to actually believe that you wanted to get in my pants, that means that to a certain extent, I'm hot, right?"

"I don't know how I'm supposed to respond to that…" He averted his gaze momentarily.

Maya laughing. "You're such a huckleberry."

He stared up at her, his heart swelling in his chest when he noticed the sullen look in her eyes had waned. She'd berated him for fighting, but he could see that deep down, she was grateful for the situation being cleared.

"Listen, Maya. About Wednesday night. When I—"

"It's fine. You were caught up in the moment and weren't thinking, right? I know it didn't mean anything to you," Maya said, dismissing him with an amused roll of her eyes. "I'm not mad at you about that anymore. But don't kiss me again, or I _will_ be mad. Kisses are important to me, so I don't just want to give and get them freely."

Lucas wanted to tell her it did mean something. That he liked her. That he wanted to kiss her beautiful face again and again until she believed him. That his heart beat faster every time he saw her. That she lingered in his thoughts day and night with no hope of ever leaving. That he wanted to spend all his time nearby her. That he desperately wanted to take away that melancholic look that never seemed to disappear. That he wanted to help her have hope. But there was something a little sharp in her gaze, like she was preparing to put up her guard and close herself off again if he said something she didn't like. If he confessed, she would run again.

"We're friends again, right?" he asked instead.

She smiled, one that looked like it was tinged with relief. "Of course we are, Ranger Rick. I'd say anyone willing to get themselves tossed in jail for fighting in school is definitely friend material. Best friend even."

"Tell me if anyone ever harasses you again, got it?" he said, regarding her seriously.

"What are you, my bodyguard now?"

"Yes." Lucas nodded. "I'm protecting you whether you want me to or not. You're not getting hurt ever again if I can help it. And I'm never going to hurt you again either. That's a promise."

Maya's brows rose in surprise, though she didn't respond for several seconds. Something warm glittered in her eyes as she searched his, her lower lip caught between her teeth as her cheeks flushed.

"Alright," she responded quietly, smiling bashfully. "It's cold. Let's go back inside."

She took her hands out of his, leaving the picnic area to head back inside the doors. Lucas rose from his seat, watching Maya's retreating form wistfully and wishing he could do more to show her how much she meant to him.

"Hey Maya," Lucas called out. "How about that ferry boat ride tonight? For real this time."

She glanced at him over her shoulder. "Pick me up at eight."

This time Lucas would do it right. Gain her trust. Be her friend, and if she never came to learn about his feelings in time, so be it. But he wouldn't reveal his feelings until he'd established himself properly as a friend and confidante in Maya's life.

He would much rather be friends with Maya than not have her in his life at all.


End file.
